TOPIC: PATIENTS ALSO HAVE RIGHTS
What Prompted This Write-up : I was discussing with a patient in one of the Hospitals around my area yesterday and from her response I discovered that she didn't know that patients also have rights as regards to their care.
INTRODUCTION
Patients come to Hospitals not just as patients but as human persons who happened to be sick/ or anxious from or about something. As human persons, created in the image of God, they have inherent dignity, respect and right and must be treated as such. A patient may come to the hospital but not alone. That patient could be a child, a sibling, a spouse, a parent, an uncle or aunt, a cousin, etc. to someone. He is a member of a family, and a community. His treatment and care or lack of care of him or her will certainly impact all these relationships he shares with other people in his family or community. Unfortunately, this is not always so. In our various Hospitals patients are treated as anything other than a person, they are often treated and referred to by bed numbers or "diagnosis".
These rights of the patients are covered under the universal declaration of Human rights thus: >everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and wellbeing of himself and his family including food, clothing and medical care >Article 25(1). In other words it implies: our right to make our own decisions about how we live our lives and how we die, Our interests in privacy and in family life, in not having or having children, are central to our dealings with health professionals >M.T Adekilekun. These rights are enshrined in different levels such as SERVICOM, CIOMS etc.
The Rights of the Patients:
These rights can be exercised on the patient's behalf by a designated surrogate or proxy decision maker if the patient lacks decision-making capacity or is legally incompetent, or is a minor.
The rights are as follows:
- Right to considerate and respectful care
- Right to relevant, current and understandable information concerning diagnosis, treatment and prognosis
- Right to know the identity of the physicians, nurse and others involved in their care
- Right to make decisions about the plans of care prior to and during the course of treatment and to refuse a recommended plan of care to the extent permitted by the law and Hospital policy and to be informed of the medical consequences of this action
- Right to privacy and confidentiality of information
- Right to consent or decline to participate in a proposed research
- Right to equality and to be free from all forms of discrimination
- Right to freedom of thought
- Right to be free from torture and ill-treatment
- Right to freedom of assembly and political participation
etc.
CONCLUSION
It is a pity that with the importance and emphasis on ethics in HEALTH CARE in general, and the constant and consistent evolution health care, medical ethics is yet to be taught in many medical schools as a core course. If we are training doctors, nurses and midwives not only for country or continent, then medical ethics (and knowledge of the rights of patients) is a sine qua non in the curricula of medical schools in our country. We need not just healthcare professionals but ethical health professionals.
Questions and contributions are welcomed.
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