Patients' Rights Laws in Europe
Patient rights are a reflection
of human rights. The human right movement has gathered importance in the
world since 1945, when, on 10 December 1948, the
Universal Declaration of Human Rights was adopted. This was followed,
on 4 November, 1950, by the signature of the European Convention of Human
Rights. The rights of the patients, as specific human rights became recognized throughout the European region only in the past two decades.
Especially important was the European Consultation
on the Rights of Patients, held in Amsterdam on 28-30 March 1994
under the auspices of the WHO Regional Office for Europe (WHO-EURO),
and hosted by the Government of the Netherlands, which was attended by
some 60 persons from 36 Member States. The purpose was to define
principles and strategies for promoting the rights of patients,
within the context of the health care reform process underway in
most countries in Europe.
Patients rights and their foundation in several European
countries are described here: Hungarian Civil Liberties
Union http://www.c3.hu/~hclu/publ-3.htm and
Index Foundation
http://www.aitel.hist.no/~walterk/filer/index-bg/Patients_Frame_all.htm.
Short description of legal patients rights of 11 European
countries can be found.
Contents
WHO Activities, Council of Europe
and EU
| Organization |
Name with Link |
Translation |
| WHO, 1986 |
Ottawa
Charter for Health Promotion: http://www.who.dk/policy/ottawa.htm |
Deutsch |
| WHO Europe, 1994 |
Declaration
on the promotion of patients' rights in Europe- Amsterdam
March 1994: http://www1.umn.edu/humanrts/instree/patientrights.html |
|
| Council of Europe, 1996 |
The 5th Conference of Health
Ministers: "Social challenge to health :
equity and patients rights in the context of health
reforms": http://www.social.coe.int/en/qoflife/publi/warsaw.htm |
|
| Council of Europe - ETS no. 164, 1997 |
Convention
for the Protection of Human Rights and Dignity of the
Human Being with regard to the Application of Biology and
Medicine. Convention on Human Rights and Biomedicine |
Deutsch |
| WHO Europe, 1999 |
Patients’ rights and
citizens’ empowerment, Copenhagen, Denmark 22-23 April 1999. European
network for patients' rights: http://lists.essential.org/med-privacy/msg00294.html:
"Patients consistently report that their opinions
are not adequately considered and that their rights are
often violated," said Dr Mikko Vienonen,
regional adviser at the WHO's
regional office for Europe. |
|
| Council of Europe, 2000 |
Recommendation Rec (2000) 5 on the
development of structures for citizen and patient
participation in the decision-making process affecting
health care: http://www.social.coe.int/en/qoflife/recomm/R(00)5.htm
|
|
| EU, 2001 |
European Health Forum:
http://europa.eu.int/comm/health/ph/key_doc/index_en.html#ehf
|
|
Patients' Rights Laws
| Country |
Name with Link |
Translation |
| Finland, 1992 |
Lag
om patientens ställning och rättigheter (785/1992):
http://www.mhbibl.aland.fi/patient/patientlag.html
|
Svensk |
| Netherlands, 1994 |
Dutch
Medical Treatment Act 1994: http://home.planet.nl/~privacy1/wgbo.htm |
|
Israel, 1996
|
Patient´s
Rights Act: http://waml.haifa.ac.il/index/reference/legislation/israel/israel1.htm |
|
| Lithuania, 1996 |
Law on the Rights of Patients and Damage Done to
Patients |
|
| Iceland, 1997 |
Lög
um réttindi sjúklinga: http://www.althingi.is/lagas/123a/1997074.html |
English |
| Hungary, 1997 |
Rights and Obligations
of Patients
(According to Act CLIV of 1997 on Health):
http://www.eum.hu/english/CLIV/CLIV-main.html. The
Szószóló
Foundation supports patients rights. |
Hungarian |
| Denmark, 1998 |
Lov
om patienters retsstilling, LOV nr 482 af 01/07/1998 |
|
| Norway, 1999 |
Pasientrettighetsloven:
http://www.lovdata.no/all/hl-19990702-063.html.
Other Norwegian Health laws. |
Deutsch,
English |
| France, 2002 |
LOI n° 2002-303 du 4 mars 2002 relative aux droits des malades et à la qualité du système de santé (1):
http://www.legifrance.gouv.fr/WAspad/UnTexteDeJorf?numjo=mesx0100092l#
|
|
| Switzerland, 2003 |
Patientenrechtverordnung
1991, Patientenrechtsgesetz
ist in Vorbereitung: Hearing:
http://www.zh.ch/gd/aktuell/news/presseberichte/news_21_12_00_1a.htm |
|
| Georgia |
|
|
| Latvia |
Law on Medical treatment |
|
| Greece |
|
|
| Estonia, 2002 |
Draft of the Act on Patients' Rights |
|
Charters of the Rights of Patients
| Country |
Name with Link |
Translation |
| France 1974 and 1995 |
Charte du Patient Hospitalisé:
http://www.chu-st-etienne.fr/Presentation/Patient/charte.htm |
|
| San Marino, 1989 |
|
|
| Ireland, 1991 |
|
|
| UK, (1991),
1997 |
The
Patient's Charter for England: http://www.pfc.org.uk/medical/pchrt-e1.htm |
|
| Czech Republic, 1992 |
|
|
| Malaysia, 1995 |
Patient's
Charter: http://prn.usm.my/edl/patient.html |
|
| South Africa, 1996 |
PATIENTS
RIGHTS CHARTER: http://www.hst.org.za/doh/rights_chart.htm |
|
| Portugal, 1997 |
|
|
| Honk Kong, 1999 |
Patients'
Charter: http://www.ha.org.hk/charter/pceng.htm |
|
| Germany, 1999 |
Charta
der Patientenrechte vom 9./10. Juni 1999: http://patientenstellen.de/patientencharta.html |
|
| Poland, 1999 |
Information
on patients rights by the Ministry of Health (Karta Praw
Pacjenta). Polish Patients Association:
Letter to Commissioner for
Human Rights. |
|
| Austria, 2001 |
Vereinbarung
zur Sicherstellung der Patientenrechte (Patientencharta):
http://www.parlinkom.gv.at/pd/pm/XXI/I/texte/004/I00421_.html |
|
| Germany, 2001 |
Experts support patients' rights law: Sachverständigenrat
tritt für Patientenrechte-Gesetz ein. The German
health system is most expensive in EU, but only under
average (World
Health Report 2000: Rank
25) in quality of services.
Petition der
Bundesarbeitsgemeinschaft der Notgemeinschaften Medizingeschädigter e.V.
(PDF-format.) |
|
| Germany, 2002 |
Patientenrechtscharta:
http://www.bagh.de/patientencharta.shtml |
|
| Europe, 2002 |
Active Citizenship Network: European Charter of Patients Rights
http://www.activecitizenship.net/health/european_charter.pdf |
|
| Italy |
Active Citizenship Network:
Italian Charter of Patients Rights
http://www.activecitizenship.net/health/italian_charter.pdf |
|
Six
years after the WHO Declaration on the Promotion of Patients’
Rights in Europe (Amsterdam, 1994), more than eight countries
(Denmark, Finland, Georgia, Greece, Iceland, Israel, Lithuania,
the Netherlands and Norway) have enacted laws on the rights of
patients; and four countries (France, Ireland, Portugal and the
United Kingdom) have used Patients’ Charters as a tool to
promote patients’ rights. (German version).
European Journal of Health Law 7: 1-3, 2000: Lars Fallberg: Patients’ Rights in Europe: Where do we stand and where do
we go?
PatientNavigation
is intended to improve transparency in health care by providing support to
patients and their counselors in finding their way through the tangled web of
the health care system. It is not designed as a pilot, guiding and deciding, but
as a compass that provides information but leaves the decision with the person
concerned.
Support the Rights of Patients by E-Mail
to the European Commission with a copy to the European Parliament.
Many countries in the EU have laws or charters securing the
Rights of Patients. But minimum standards are lacking.
In order to give all citizens in Europe patients rights and to
keep up with the international development patients rights should
be strengthened in EU member states.
Support Patients Rights, by
the following E-Mail to the European Commission (click here):
I support the call to the
European Commission for securing the rights of patients.
I a guideline I suggest to use the "Recommendation
Rec (2000) 5 of the Council of Europe on the development of
structures for citizen and patient participation in the decision-making
process affecting health care": http://www.social.coe.int/en/qoflife/recomm/R(00)5.htm
.
(You may change the text according to your needs).
Support the Rights of Patients by E-Mail
to the Federal Government in Germany
Many countries in the EU have laws securing the Rights of
Patients. Germany is one of the countries in the EU without such
a law. In order to keep up with the international development a
law on patients' rights should also be adopted in Germany.
Support a German Patients' Rights Law, by
the following E-Mail to the German Government (click here):
I support the call to the
German Government for securing the rights of patients by law.
I suggest to implement the "Recommendation Rec (2000) 5 of
the Council of Europe on the development of structures for
citizen and patient participation in the decision-making process
affecting health care": http://www.social.coe.int/en/qoflife/recomm/R(00)5.htm
.
(You may change the text according to your needs).
Warning: I do not accept
any liability that the information on these pages is correct,
accurate or up to date!
Please feel free to link this site!
PS: Thanks to all, who gave me this information. Please do not
hesitate to mail me if
you have one of the "missing links".
Visitor No. 
since 4. August 2001
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Patient rights are a reflection
of human rights. The human right movement has gathered importance in the
world since 1945, when, on 10 December 1948, the
Universal Declaration of Human Rights was adopted. This was followed,
on 4 November, 1950, by the signature of the European Convention of Human
Rights. The rights of the patients, as specific human rights became recognized throughout the European region only in the past two decades.