LEGAL RIGHTS OF THE PATIENT

Presented By:

Bakul Arora

MHA 3rd sem

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Origin of Patient’s Rights and

responsibilities

• The code of ethics of medical and nursing councils

define the duties of the doctors and nurses towards

the patients. Thus these duties form the basis of

patient’s rights.

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PATIENT’S RIGHTS

• Right to considerate and respectful care.

• Right to information on diagnosis, treatment andmedicines.

• Right to obtain all the relevant information about theprofessionals involved in the patient care.

• Right to expect that all the communications andrecords pertaining to his/her case be treated asconfidential

• Right to every consideration of his/her privacyconcerning his/her medical care programme.

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PATIENT’S RIGHTS

• Right to expect prompt treatment in an emergency

• Right to refuse to participate in human experimentation,

research, project affecting his/her care or treatment.

• Right to get copies of medical records

• Right to know what hospital rules and regulations apply

to him/her as a patient and the facilities obtainable to the

patient.

• Right to get details of the bill.

• Right to seek second opinion about his/her disease,

treatment, etc.

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WHAT PRECAUTIONS SHOULD PATIENTS

TAKE TO PROTECT THEIR RIGHTS?

• In case of surgical treatment or invasive investigations and procedures,

patient should ensure that he/she has understood the nature of the

operation.

• Patient should understand the consent form before he/she signs.

• At the time of discharge, patient should take copies of all the relevant

records.

• At the time of discharge from the hospital, make sure that patient receives

the bills for all the payments made.

• In case of any treatment, patient has the right to ask for a second opinion.

• If patient has any doubts about the treatment he/she should request the

doctor to clarify them.

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• Make sure that the doctor has given patient all the instructions

for the medicines prescribed. Patient has the right to get all

the relevant information about the drugs prescribed.

• In case of invasive/costly investigations, patient has the right

to know of the alternatives as well as the necessity of the

investigations.

• In case of HIV positive patients, the details can only be

disclosed with the patient’s permission.

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AVENUES FOR REDRESSAL OF

PATIENTS COMPLAINTS• MEDICAL COUNCILS:

Medical Councils are statutory bodies created by an Act of the Parliament/legislature to

monitor/govern the medical profession. The council has only ethical jurisdiction.

The council cannot give compensation to the complainant or punish the doctors. The only

punishment the councils are empowered to give is to cancel the registration either temporarily

or permanently.

The complainant has to file the complaint with the registrar of the Council and file a specific

declaration as per the prescribed format. The council’s executive committee holds the

preliminary hearing to find out the prima facie veracity of the complaint.

At this meeting only the complainant and the doctor against whom the complaint is filed are

allowed to present their sides. Lawyers are not allowed to be present. If the executive

committee finds prima facie truth in the complaint, then the full council hears the case. The

council meets only twice in a year. Therefore the complaints are not resolved speedily. Also

the preliminary hearing is heavily weighed against the complaint who is usually a non

medical person. Therefore councils have been very ineffective in resolving the complaints of

consumers of healthcare.

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• CONSUMER COURTS:

• The complaints against the medical profession can be filed in the consumer courts. The

complaint should be written on a simple paper giving all the details and the compensation

demanded. These courts can only give compensation.

• Following are the monetary limits of compensation that can be granted by the consumer

courts

• District Consumer Court

Up to Rs 20 lakh

• State Commission

Rs 20 Lakhs to Rs 1 Crore

• National Commission

Above Rs 1 crore

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• CIVIL COURTS:

The redressal of the patient’s complaints through the civil

courts is lengthy, time consuming and many times

counterproductive. There is a tremendous backlog of cases

and the cases take anywhere between 10 to 15 years to

complete.

• CRIMINAL COURTS:

The redressal of the complaints under criminal law is not very

common and recourse to this method should be taken only in

exceptional cases.

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PATIENT’S RESPONSIBILITIES

• To faithfully undergo the agreed therapy.

• To follow the doctors instructions diligently.

• To take necessary preventive measures in case of

infectious diseases as per the doctors instructions.

• To be aware that doctors and nurses are also human

beings and are amenable to mistakes and lapses.

• To make the payment for the treatment, wherever

applicable, to the doctors/hospital promptly.

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PATIENT’S RESPONSIBILITIES

• To respect the autonomy of the doctors and nurses.

• To treat doctors and nurses with respect.

• To be punctual to attend the clinics/hospital/dispensary

for the treatment at the given time.

• To preserve all the records of one’s illness.

• To keep the doctor informed if the patient wants to

change the hospital/doctor.

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