MATERIALS AND METHODS: A prospective, observational crosssectional survey was conducted from 1st May 2022 to 31st December 2022 at the University of Malaya Medical Centre, Kuala Lumpur. This survey included all neurosurgical patients aged 18 and above requiring urgent and semiemergency surgery. The next of kin were interviewed using a standardised questionnaire to obtain their perspectives on the effectiveness of the current consenting process, as well as to explore potential alternative methods for obtaining consent. Data were analysed using IBM SPSS Statistics.

RESULTS: The survey had 103 responses. The analysis revealed that the most common semi-emergency surgical procedures were craniotomy (22 cases) and external ventricular drain insertion (18 cases), followed by burr hole and drainage (14 cases). The most common primary diagnosis that needed urgent intervention was acute hydrocephalus. Interestingly, more than half of the patients (58 cases, 56.3%) had to wait for over 30 minutes to obtain consent from their next of kin prior to surgery. The next of kin interviewed had an age range of 25 to 72 years. The relationships of the next of kin were children (33 subjects), spouses (26 subjects), siblings (25 subjects), and parents (16 subjects) of the patients. Additionally, 96.1% of the respondents owned a smartphone with a mobile internet data connection, and 85.4% had internet connectivity at home. The most preferred method of telecommunication for this exercise was via WhatsApp. An interesting finding was the association between the level of trust in medical professionals and the preferred consent method. It was discovered that individuals who preferred physical consent had lower trust in the hospital and doctors, while those who preferred remote consent had higher trust.