(donaldson L 1993). The Guiding Pronouncement In This Type Of Issue Is That A

(Donaldson L 1993). The guiding pronouncement in this type of issue is that a legally competent adult has the right to agree or to disagree with any form of treatment or opinion offered by a healthcare professional and does not have to justify the reason for their action to anyone else.
It is clearly incumbent on the healthcare professional to try to provide the Public Health information to help the patient make an informed and considered decision. It may even be considered acceptable to suggest or persuade the patient to do the honourable thing, but this clearly must not be interpreted as placing undue pressure on the patient otherwise all of the underlying ethical principles discussed so far will be completely undermined (Hendrick, J. 2000).
We should also note that the same professional guidelines cited above also make the suggestion that the nature of the conversation and the topics discussed should be clearly recorded in the patient's notes and if a decision is made to allow healthcare professionals to contact the other potential partners, then a consent form recording the decision should ideally be signed by the patient. In many instances we acknowledge that it is common practice to advise and take whatever action is perceived to be in the best interests of the patient, but in terms of our ever more litigious society, it appears to be good advice to get written consent for virtually every action however seemingly minor. (Yura H et al 1998),
If we had to sum up the thrust of this essay in a sentence it would be that there is no excuse either ethically, or for that matter in law for making unfounded assumptions about what the patient wants or will permit. (Gillon. R. 1997).
References

Adams EJ , A Charlett, W J Edmunds, and G Hughes 2004
Chlamydia trachomatis in the United Kingdom: a systematic review and analysis of prevalence studies
Sex. Transm. Inf., October 1, 2004; 80(5): 354 - 362.

Berwick D2005
Broadening the view of evidence-based medicine
Qual. Saf. Health Care, Oct 2005; 14: 315 - 316.

Carrick P 2000
Medical Ethics in the Ancient World
Georgetown University press 2000 ISBN: 0878408495

Cassell JA , M G Brook, R Slack, N James, A Hayward, and A M Johnson 2003
Partner notification in primary care
Sex. Transm. Inf., June 1, 2003; 79(3): 264 - 265.

Dimond. B. 2001
Legal Aspects of Consent
Salisbury.: Quay Books 2001

D of H 2002
Department of Health. The national strategy for sexual health and HIV: implementation action plan. London: DoH, 2002.

Donaldson L 1993
in Re T (Adult: Refusal of Treatment) [1993) Fam 95 5

Duncan B, Hart G.