Consumer Connect: 'Hospitals Bound To Honour Patients' Rights,' Says Expert
Q. Patients and their relatives are often on the receiving end when it comes to medical services from hospitals. Whether it is an admission process, fees payable, case papers, line of treatment, consent, purchase of medicines, billing, etc., there is no transparency. A recent incident at Dinanath Mangeshkar Hospital in Pune has once again raised the issue of patients’ rights. I want to know what exactly the patients’ rights are. Where does the patient complain in case of rights violation? — Anagha Achrekar, Dadar (West)
A. There are 17 basic rights for patients. The National Health Authority (NHA) has drafted the Patients’ Rights and Responsibilities Charter for hospitals empanelled under the scheme of Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri – Jan Arogya Yojana (AB PM-JAY). Hospitals are mandated to honour these rights of the patients. More than 25,000 hospitals across the country are empanelled under AB PM-JAY.
These rights of patients are as follows:
Right to information: Patients have the right to obtain authentic information about their medical condition, diagnosis, treatment options, and costs. This information should be provided in a simple language that the patient or caretaker can understand.
Right to records and reports: Patients or their caretakers have the right to access originals or copies of case papers, indoor patient records, and investigation reports. No hospital can deny any patient or his representative access to original records and cannot also deny giving copies of such records.
Right to emergency medical care: The Supreme Court has ruled that a patient brought to any hospital in emergency condition cannot be turned away. It affects his fundamental right to life guaranteed by the Constitution of India. The Dinanath Hospital episode acquired seriousness because this right to emergency medical care was apparently denied by the hospital to the pregnant lady who was in pain.
Right to informed consent: Medical professionals must obtain consent from patients or their caregivers before performing any operation or treatment. Doctors are expected to explain to the patient and his relatives the nature of the surgery and the risks involved, and then obtain consent. Mere taking the consent without giving proper information is not an ‘informed consent’. In many cases, doctors/hospitals are held negligent for not having obtained proper ‘informed consent’.
Right to confidentiality, privacy, and dignity: Medical professionals must maintain patient confidentiality and dignity. Right to non-discrimination: Patients should not face discriminatory treatment based on their illness, condition, HIV status, gender, age, religion, caste, ethnicity, sexual orientation, or geographical origins.
Right to safety and quality care: Patients have the right to receive safe and quality care according to standards set by the National Accreditation Board for Hospitals (NABH). Right to choose alternative treatment options: Patients can choose alternative treatment options if available.
Right to seek a second opinion: Patients have the right to seek a second opinion from a doctor or hospital of their choice. Right to transparency in rates: Hospitals must display rates for medical procedures and services prominently.
Right to be discharged or receive the deceased’s body: Patients have the right to be discharged and cannot be detained in a hospital on procedural grounds. Caretakers have the right to receive the body of a deceased patient.
Right to patient education: Patients have the right to receive education about their condition, healthy living practices, and relevant entitlements.
Right to be heard and seek redressal: Patients have the right to address grievances and seek redressal for any issues related to their care. Each hospital is expected to have a nodal officer to attend to the complaints of the patients promptly and diligently. The other rights are the right to choose a source for obtaining medicines or tests, the right to proper referral and transfer, the right to protection for patients involved in clinical trials, right to protection of participants involved in biomedical and health research.
All hospitals are required to display these Patients’ Rights prominently in the hospital premises, easily visible to any person. If any hospital violates these rights and the hospital fails to redress patients’ grievances internally, then the complaint can be launched with the Maharashtra Medical Council on their portal. In appropriate cases, a complaint will have to be lodged in the Consumer Commission or to Central Consumer Protection Authority, depending on the nature of the complaint. Hence, it is advisable to consult a consumer organisation like Mumbai Grahak Panchayat before filing any such complaint.
(Advocate Shirish V Deshpande is chairman, Mumbai Grahak Panchayat. Queries can be sent to him on email: shirish50@yahoo.com)
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