Patient rights

Respecting Patients’ Rights is our duty and we make sure that every patient feels comfortable with us and that their rights are respected by all staff with due diligence. Patients should also adhere to their obligations. It’s important that we can treat and help safely – while maintaining the highest standards of care. Prohibition of alcohol or smoking are some of the patient’s responsibilities. The Patient’s Bill of Rights and Responsibilities is located in each room and we ask you to familiarize yourself with it during your stay in our hospital.

Patient rights are defined in detail in the Act of November 6, 2008 on Patient Rights and Patient Ombudsman (OJ of 2009, No. 52, item 417, as amended)

The full text of the Act is available at the nursing duty station. Below are its most important provisions. 

Patient’s right to health services

• Patient has the right to health services provided with due diligence, corresponding to the requirements of current medical knowledge.
• Patient has the right to benefit from a reliable procedure based on medical criteria to determine the order of access to these services.
• In case of doubt, patient has the right to demand that the doctor consult another doctor or convene a medical case conference, and the nurse consult another nurse. The request and any refusal shall be noted in the medical records.
• Patient has the right to immediate health services due to a threat to health or life.
• In the case of childbirth, patient has the right to receive immediate health services related to it.

Right to report adverse reactions to medicinal products

• Patient or patient’s legal representative or legal guardian has the right to report to medical professionals an adverse reaction to a medicinal product.

Patient’s right to information

• Patient has the right to information about his condition.
• Patient, including a minor who is 16 years of age or older, or his legal representative, has the right to obtain from the doctor accessible information about the patient’s health condition, diagnosis, proposed and possible diagnostic and therapeutic methods, foreseeable consequences of their application or abandonment, results of treatment and prognosis.
• Patient has the right to information about the type and scope of services provided at a given provider, as well as about the persons providing these services.
• Patient has the right to information that is understandable and accessible to him.
• Patient has the right to opt out of receiving information.
• Patient under the age of 16 has the right to obtain information from the doctor in the form and to the extent necessary for the proper provision of services.
• Patient has the right to designate the person or persons to whom the doctor will provide all information about his condition and treatment.
• Patient has the right to information about patient rights. The health care provider shall make this information available in writing, by posting it on its premises, in a place accessible to the public.

Right to consent to the provision of health services

• Patient has the right to consent to the provision of certain health services or to refuse such consent.
• The legal representative of a patient who is a minor, totally incapacitated or incapable of giving informed consent has the right to give consent for the provision of certain health services. In the absence of a legal representative, this right, with respect to the examination, can be exercised by the factual guardian.
• A minor patient who has reached the age of 16, an incapacitated person, or a patient who is mentally ill or mentally retarded, but who has sufficient discernment, has the right to object to the provision of health care, despite the consent of the legal representative or actual guardian. In this case, permission from the guardianship court is required.
• In the case of a surgical procedure or the use of a method of treatment or diagnosis that poses an increased risk to the patient, consent shall be given in writing.
• Consent or refusal should be preceded by the presentation of comprehensive information to the patient about the planned or already provided service.

Patient’s right to confidentiality of information related to him

• Patient has the right to confidentiality – to keep confidential all information related to him, especially about his health condition, diagnosis and prognosis, examinations and their results.
• Without the patient’s consent (or the consent of the person who has legal custody of the patient), no one may be informed about the patient’s condition. Patient has the right to indicate to whom information covered by confidentiality will be shared. This right also applies after the death of the patient.

Right to respect for the patient’s intimacy and dignity

• Patient has the right to respect for intimacy and dignity – the person providing services has a duty to act
• in a manner that ensures respect for this right.
• Patient has the right to die with dignity.
• Patient has the right to have a loved one present when health services are provided.
• For the sake of the patient’s health safety or in the case of the likelihood of an epidemic emergency, the person providing health care services may refuse the presence of a  person close to the patient. The refusal   must be noted in the medical records.
• Medical professionals, other than those providing health care services, shall participate in the provision of such services only when it is necessary due to the type of service or the performance of control activities under the medical activities regulations. Participation, as well as the presence of others, requires the consent of the patient, and in the case of a minor patient, a patient who is completely incapacitated or incapable of giving informed consent, his legal representative, and the medical professional providing the health service. Patient’s right to medical records
• Patient has the right to access medical records relating to his condition and the health services provided.
• The health care provider shall make the medical records available to the patient or the patient’s legal representative, or to a person authorized by the patient.
• After patient’s death, the right to inspect medical records is vested in the person authorized by the patient during his lifetime.
• Medical records are made available:
• for inspection, including in health care databases, at the premises of the health care provider;
• by making extracts, excerpts or copies of it;
• by issuing the original against receipt and subject to return after use, if the authorized body or entity requests access to the originals of such documentation.
• The healthcare provider may charge a fee for providing medical records.

Patient’s right to keep valuables in deposit

• Patient in a treatment facility for persons requiring 24-hour or all-day health care services (such as a hospital) has the right to keep valuables in deposit.
• The cost of storage shall be borne by the healthcare provider, unless otherwise provided by separate regulations.

Right to object to an opinion or ruling

• The patient or the patient’s legal representative may object to the doctor’s opinion or ruling if it affects the patient’s rights or obligations under the law.
• The objection is filed with the Medical Committee acting under the Patients Ombudsman, through the Patient Ombudsman, within 30 days from the date of the opinion or ruling of the physician adjudicating the patient’s condition.

Right to respect for private and family life

• Patient in an inpatient facility for people requiring round-the-clock health care services (such as a hospital) has the right to contact others in person, by telephone or by mail, but also has the right to refuse such contact.
• Patient is entitled to additional nursing care that does not consist of providing health services
• If the provider bears the cost of exercising the above rights, it may charge it to the patient.

Right to pastoral care

• Patient has the right to pastoral care.
• In a situation of deterioration of the patient’s health or life-threatening condition, the facility where the patient is staying is obliged to allow the patient to contact the clergyman of his religion.
• The manager or a physician authorized by him may limit the exercise of patient rights in the event of an epidemic emergency or for reasons of patient health safety, and for some rights also for reasons of organizational capacity.