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Right to Informed Consent| SLOVAKIA
| GENERAL OVERVIEW | BIOMEDICINE CONVENTION | EU MEMBER STATES | TYPES OF PATIENT RIGHTS LEGISLATION |
| 1. The right of a patient to informed consent is one of the basic patient rights in Slovakia. The informed consent shall be given by the patient or by his legal representative if he is incapable to give his informed consent. 2. The information that has to precede the consent should be given in a comprehensible, understandable manner without any restraint, with sufficient time and with the possibility to opt freely for informed consent. The information should also be given in a way that is adjusted to the intellect, the will and the health condition of the patient. Whoever is entitled to information is also entitled to refuse it. The refusal of information has no consequences regarding the validity of consent since an informed consent is explicitly defined as a proven consent with a medical intervention preceded by information or preceded by a refusal of that information. 3. The Act on Health Care does not specify the form in which the informed consent should be given. Although the Act does not generally require a written form, a written informed consent is necessary in specific situations. 4. An informed consent shall not be required in certain specific situations which are listed limitatively by the Act on Health Care. According to the Act health care provision without the patient’s informed consent is allowed in case of emergency care if it is impossible to gain the informed consent on time and if the consent can be presumed. It is also allowed in case of a protective treatment ordered by a court pursuant to separate legislation. Furthermore, an informed consent shall not be required in case of inpatient care if there is a risk of a serious deterioration of the health condition of the patient, if the patient spreads a contagious disease which seriously endangers his surrounding or if the patient endangers himself or his surrounding due to a mental illness or due to a disease with symptoms of a mental defect. 5. The Slovak legislation acknowledges the right of patients to refuse a medical treatment. As regards to the withdrawal of consent, it is stipulated that whoever is entitled to give an informed consent in accordance with the first subsection shall also be entitled to withdraw it freely at anytime. 6. Previously expressed wishes relating to a medical intervention are not regulated in Slovak health law. As the European Convention on Human Rights and Biomedicine is directly applicable in Slovakia, the previously expressed wishes relating to a medical intervention by a patient should be taken into account according to article 9 of the Convention. 7. According to Slovak legislation a minor patient is any patient who is younger than 18 years of age. However, this provision is not applicable in the context of health care provision, as the Act on Health Care of 2004 stipulates that a minor is considered to be incapable to consent with the provision of the health care. If health care is to be provided to a child, information preceding the consent should be provided to the legal representative, tutor or foster of the under-aged child (hereinafter “legal representative”). The informed consent to the medical intervention shall also be given by them. The patient who is incapable of giving his informed consent however, shall participate in the decision making process to the highest possible extent allowed by his abilities. If the legal representative of the minor patient refuses to give an informed consent, the health care provider can file a motion to a court. 8. The position of the patient who is deprived of the capacity to exercise his rights granted by the Act on Health Care or the patient who has a limited capacity to exercise them, is very similar to the position of a minor patient. |