| HOME | EUROPEAN ETHICAL-LEGAL PAPERS | CENTRE FOR BIOMEDICAL ETHICS AND LAW | EUROGENTEST |
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National Patient Rights Legislation| POLAND
| GENERAL OVERVIEW | BIOMEDICINE CONVENTION | EU MEMBER STATES | TYPES OF PATIENT RIGHTS LEGISLATION |
| Signed, not Ratified |
| Patient Rights in Poland |
| Right to Information about his or her Health |
| Rights regarding the Medical File |
| Right to Privacy |
| Right to Complain and to Compensation |
The Convention on Human Rights and Biomedicine |
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General National Patient Rights Protection |
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Patient rights are regulated in many different legal acts. The most important one is the Act of 30 August 1991 on Health Care Institutions which was the first to specify the fundamental rights of patients. The general right to health care of every citizen is granted in article 68.1 of the Polish Constitution. To enforce the position of the patient within the public health care system, there exists “The Office of Patient Rights and the institution of the Ombudsman of Patient Rights”. After questions raised by the Polish Ombudsman on the topic of patient rights, the Ministry of Health presented a ‘Charter of Patient Rights’ in December 1998. The Charter provides a catalogue of patient rights with references to the corresponding legal basis, but in itself it is not a source of law. After 1998 several laws, providing patient rights, were amended and new regulations were adopted. Therefore the Charter can not be considered as a document giving the complete picture about the legal protection of the patient in Poland. However it helps to orientate the individual towards his/her rights.
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