General National Patient Rights Protection

In Finland patient rights are protected by several laws: specific patient rights legislation and general statutory provisions regarding health care. The most significant is the Act on the Status and Rights of Patients (No. 785/1992). This law, which is the world’s first patient rights act, regulates several rights of patients, such as the right to information, the right to self-determination, the maintenance of patient records, etc. Other significant acts are the Act on the Status and Rights of Social Welfare Clients (No. 812/2000), which provides very similar rights as the Patient Rights Act and the Act on Patient Injuries (No. 585/1986), which focuses on financial compensation for patients in case of medical damage.

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