|
At the moment, a comprehensive framework of patient rights does not exist in the Czech Republic. Certain patient rights have only been incorporated fragmentally and incompletely into legislation.
Some basic patient rights are laid down in the Act N° 20/1966 on Health Care. This act is quite old, and although it has been amended many times, it cannot be considered as an adequate framework for the protection of patient rights.
In 1992 the Central Ethical Committee of the Ministry of Health drafted a Code of [Moral] Patient rights in Health Institutions which states that patients are conditionally entitled, inter alia, to be informed, to be allowed to refuse treatment, to have their privacy respected and to confidentiality. In 1997 this Code of Patient rights in Health Institutions was evaluated to determine the determine the degree to which Czech patients were aware of both its existence and patient rights in general. The Code is widely respected as a standard of how to treat and to communicate with the patient which shows that the legislative approach is not the only one.
Also in 1992 the Ethical Code of Physicians of the Czech Medical Chamber has been drafted. It contains duties of physicians towards their patients and indirectly also adresses patient rights. Since both the Code of Patient Rights and the Ethical Code of Physicians are not binding in law, their legal impact is limited.
A bill for a new act on the rights of patients has been announced several times. Although at first glance no substantial changes have been made in the legislation concerning the patient rights, one should bare in mind however that the constitutional background has been dramatically changed and also that the Czech state is now party of many international treaties on human rights.
Top |
