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PATIENT'S RIGHTS

Patient’s rights are integral part of ‘the right to healthcare’. Hospitals, clinics, medical laboratory are a place where conservation and promotion of patient’s rights is very important. When patients approach to any healthcare provider (including all public or private or public trust organizational), they face very unique situation. Patients are sick, helpless and extremely vulnerable to human rights violation. This risk is more in case of mental health patients, people living with HIV/ AIDS, women and children, destitute, elderly people, people from low socio-economic strata, people belonging to scheduled castes and scheduled tribes etc. In absence of attention towards their rights as a human being, their personhood would be stripped away from them. In India, approx. 80% out-patient-care and 60% in patient care is provided in private healthcare sector. Significantly large numbers of hospitals fall under public charitable institutions/trusts category and hence receiving various government concessions. In absence of any legally binding protective mechanism for patient’s rights in private healthcare domain, many patients have to face human rights violation.

Patient’s have following rights-

  1. Right to Emergency Medical Care
  2. Right to information
  3. Right to informed consent
  4. Right to confidentiality
  5. Right to second opinion
  6. Right to respect human dignity and privacy of the patient
  7. Non-discrimination on the basis of HIV status
  8. Right to choose alternative treatment if options are available
  9. Right to make suggestions/complaints and to seek redressal
  10. Compliance with ICMR guidelines for clinical trials on patients
  11. Free beds in Trust Hospital for poor patients

DOCUMENTS AND PUBLICATIONS ON PATIENTS RIGHTS

  1. Pamphlet demanding legal protection of Patient's Rights
  2. Report on Rugna Hakka Parishad (Patient's Rights Convention)
  3. Joint Charter of Patient's Rights and Responsibilities-English
  4. Poster of Patient's Rights and Responsibilities-English
  5. Joint Charter of Patient's Rights and Responsibilities-Marathi
  6. Poster of Patient's Rights and Responsibilities-Marathi