Awanui Labs recently took part in a Health NZ – Te Whatu Ora study on effective ways to get verbal consent from patients for Hepatitis C screening when they visit a collection centre.
“Hepatitis C is a disease which can lead to cirrhosis or even cancer of the liver, so it is important organisations such as Awanui Labs and Health NZ assess all practical ways of increasing the number of people who are tested,” says Patient Services Manager – Auckland Marike Rossouw.
“One of the ways we are looking to do this is by assessing the effectiveness of whether asking for a patient’s verbal consent would increase the likelihood of them agreeing to a test, which approach is most acceptable for them, and therefore most suitable for large-scale screening.”
The study is part of Health NZ’s National Hepatitis C Action Plan aimed at developing large-scale testing and screening programme and the elimination of the disease by 2030.
“The study examined two models. The first included the phlebotomist gaining a brief verbal consent from the patient when performing the venepuncture but with minimal information. The second was having consent, but with much more detailed and comprehensive information provided by research assistants at the collection centre prior to the blood tests,” says Marike.
“The patients included adults aged 35 and older, at four of collection centres in the Auckland region, and with high Māori populations as Māori have significantly higher rates of liver cancer compared to non-Māori.
“The data we collected followed rigorous quality management protocols and focused on the proportion of people declining testing as opposed to the approach and consent rates,” says Marike.
“The trial ran for two weeks in May this year and provided Awanui and Health NZ – Te Whatu Ora with valuable insights into what strategies we may use for enhancing access to Hepatitis C screening.
“The result was more than 60 percent of patients sampled gave their verbal consent when approached to be tested across all sites.”
Marike says the findings suggest asking patients to provide their verbal consent to a phlebotomist or a research assistant is viable and acceptable to most people who visit a collection centre.
“Our team will continue to support Health NZ – Te Whatu Ora with the national plan and further study into increasing Hep C screening. Both staff feedback and participation rates in this study show patients overall are willing to be part of additional testing initiatives such as this one when asked and which can improve their health.”