Information for patients. My rights as a patient

Transcription

1 Information for patients My rights as a patient

2 1. Right to receive information As a patient, you have the right to be kept fully informed about your illness and treatment. This information should cover for instance: what you are suffering from; which medically sound forms of treatment are available; what complications and side effects an examination or treatment may involve; which options are available for prevention and care; what the consequences may be if you do not wish to receive treatment. You also have the right to decline such information. Information for young people If you are aged between 15 and 18, you have the right to be informed in person about your illness and treatment. Usually, your parents should also receive this information, but a decision on how much they will be told will be made based on your individual situation. This will include considerations regarding the everity of your illness, the type of treatment and your level of maturity as well as any need to follow up treatment in your home. 2. Consent As a patient, it is up to you to decide whether an examination or treatment should go ahead even if only one course of treatment is available. If there are any changes to your treatment, or if new information becomes available, you are entitled to receive updated information. Once again, you must give your consent for the treatment to be continued or changed. You may withdraw your consent at any time. However, in case of an immediate life-threatening need for treatment, a doctor or another health professional may examine and treat you without your prior consent for instance if you are unconscious and therefore unable to give your consent. Consent to treatment of children As parents, you are given the option, in consultation with staff, to decide which treatment is best for your child. Almost any type of treatment and examination is put to you as a proposition, and your decision should be based on information and dialogue. Therefore, you are encouraged to ask questions regarding the consequences of the treatment as well as anything you are not sure about. Consent by young people If you are aged between 15 and 18, you have the right to make your own decisions, and you must give your own consent. However, your parents must also be involved in your decision. 2

3 If you are unable to understand the full consequences of your decision, the person who is your custodial parent must decide on your behalf. It is up to the healthcare professional to assess whether or not you yourself are able to appreciate the situation. Consent by next of kin If a person is permanently unable to give his or her consent, for instance in certain cases of severe dementia, another person must receive information on In such cases, the representative is usually the patient s next of kin this could be their co-habiting spouse or partner, children or other relatives. However, there is no requirement for this person to be a relative or family member; anyone else who is particularly close to the patient may be considered as well. The healthcare professional in charge will assess each situation in this respect. 3. Duty of Confidentiality Any employee in the Danish public sector has a duty of confidentiality with regard to any personal and health-related information obtained in the course of their work. This usually means that any information you provide on such issues must not be passed on to others. This rule applies to all healthcare professionals, including those who are selfemployed or privately employed such as GPs and physiotherapists. the patient s health and make decisions on behalf of the patient. Still, the patient must be involved as much as possible in making decisions on the course of examination and treatment. However, if you are undergoing treatment that requires you to be treated by more than one person or at different locations, it applies that any necessary information about your health status may be passed on to those persons who will be providing your further treatment. This is also the case if you receive continuous treatment provided by your own doctor. You have the right to object to information being passed on. Because of the duty of confidentiality, as next of kin you are only entitled to receive information about the health of another person, e.g. your spouse, if that person has given their consent to such disclosure. 3

4 Exceptions Information may be passed to other parties, e.g. other authorities, insurance providers etc., provided that: you have given your written consent that certain information may be passed on; this is required by law or this is deemed necessary in order to safeguard the welfare of yourself or others. Electronic information about your health Any doctor, midwife, nurse, social and healthcare assistant or radiographer who is involved in your treatment is entitled to retrieve information from electronic systems about your health status and other confidential information, provided this is required in relation to your treatment. Other healthcare professionals have a similar right; this, however, is limited to retrieving electronic information from the department with which you are associated. This information, which will be treated in confidence, may be used for instance in the training of junior doctors or as part of efforts to improve the quality of hospital services. You have the right to insist that no electronic information about you shall be retrieved during your treatment. 4. Access to your medical records Your medical records must contain all significant information about the reason for you seeking medical assistance, your diagnosis, the course of your illness, your prescribed medication, the results of any examinations and the course of any operations. Information about your treatment and your consent to this treatment must also be included in your records. You can ask the person who provides your treatment to let you view your records or give you a copy to keep. A healthcare professional can help you interpret the contents of your records if you so wish. Your right to access your medical records only applies if you are aged 15 years or over. Other people are 4

5 not allowed to view your records without your permission. As a general rule, however, parents are allowed to view the records of children below the age of 18, whereas other closely related people, e.g. married couples, do not have an immediate right to view each other s records. If you have made a request to view (gain access to) your medical records, you are entitled to receive a reply within 10 days. E-journal (electronic records) Information in your medical records related to any course or courses of treatment provided in hospital or by the mental health service will be transferred to your electronic records, the E-journal. This service offers you the general opportunity to access information and keep track of your treatment. Your E-journal is available at www. sundhed.dk. Click on Se din journal fra sygehuset (View your hospital records). You can log on to this service with your NemID digital signature. Deaths Following a death, next of kin may approach the hospital to receive information on the course of illness, the cause of death and 4 the manner of passing. This is the case provided that the deceased did not express any objection to the disclosure of such information. 5. Liaison If you are admitted to hospital for more than 48 hours, or if you are undergoing outpatient treatment that involves more than two visits, you are entitled to have a liaison. If you suffer from one of the following five chronic diseases, you will also have specific needs which means that you are entitled to have an assigned liaison no more than 24 hours after your admission: cancer or suspected cancer; heart failure (cardiac failure); COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease); Type 2 diabetes; schizophrenia. Your liaison is a healthcare professional who is involved in your treatment. It is their special responsibility to ensure that you have a coherent experience during your stay or during your visits as an outpatient. 6. Living will By drawing up a living will while you are fit and well, you can make sure that doctors will respect your wishes with regard to treatment if you become terminally ill and unable to tell them what you want. However, as long as you are fully conscious and able to express your wishes in person, these are the wishes doctors must respect. 5

6 Therefore, a living will does not become effective until a time when doctors and next of kin can no longer communicate with you. Contents of a living will In a living will, you must select whether or not you wish to receive treatment if death is inevitable and the treatment will only help to extend your life. You are given the option to decline any life-sustaining treatment in a situation where you are incapacitated, and where there is no hope for improvement. A living will is not an instrument of euthanasia. How to make a living will You can draw up a living will by filling in a leaflet, available from chemists (Apoteket) in Denmark. Once filled in, please forward your leaflet to the Living Will Register: Livstestamenteregisteret at Rigshospitalet, afsnit 4102, Blegdamsvej 9, DK-2100 København Ø, telephone A charge of DKK 50 applies when you register a living will. A living will can also be drawn up via You can retract a living will at any time. 7. Organ donation In Denmark, organs are only used for transplantation with the permission of a patient or their next of kin. Any person aged 18 years or above is entitled to decide whether or not they will allow their organs to be used for transplantation in case of brain death. If you have not made up your mind, or if you have not expressed your wishes either in writing or by telling someone, your next of kin must make the decision in a given situation. There are three ways for you to express your wishes: tell your next of kin how you feel about this; fill in a donor card; join The Donor Register (Donorregistret). You can join The Donor Register online at You can read more about this in the leaflet Organdonor, available from your local chemist, library or hospital. 8. Complaints The National Agency for Patients Rights and Complaints (Patientombuddet) Any complaint regarding your course of treatment or the professional work of a healthcare employee can be submitted to the independent authority, The National Agency for Patients Rights and Complaints. You are also entitled to make a complaint if you feel that your rights as a patient during your admission, as stipulated by law, have not been respected. Where a patient is deceased, their next of kin may submit a complaint on their behalf. The time limit for submitting a complaint is 2 years. This means that 6

7 your complaint must be submitted no more than 2 years from the date when you first became concerned, or ought to have become concerned, about any possible malpractice. For complaints regarding a ruling on patient rights (e.g. relating to waiting times), the time limit is 4 weeks from when the decision is made. Within 4 weeks of having submitted a complaint, you will be invited to enter into dialogue with the hospital. This option is offered to you as a service which aims to clarify the questions raised 6 in your complaint. It may be conducted by telephone, letter or or in a face-toface meeting. You are welcome to bring a relative or any other person into this dialogue. When the dialogue has taken place, you must then decide whether or not you wish to uphold your complaint. If you need help in making a complaint, please contact the hospital or the regional Patient Office, or make a direct inquiry to The National Agency for Patients Rights and Complaints. As an independent and impartial authority, The National Agency for Patients Rights and Complaints receives any type of complaint. Complaints related to treatment and complaints related to any breach of patient rights are handled by The National Agency for Patients Rights and Complaints. 7

8 Complaints about the professional work of any individual healthcare employee are settled by The Disciplinary Board of the National Health Services (Sundhedsvæsenets Disciplinærnævn) which is part of The National Agency for Patients Rights and Complaints. If you wish to submit a complaint, you will need to use a special Complaints Form. This form is available from the hospital and the Patient Office for Region Syddanmark (Region of Southern Denmark), or by download from www. patientombuddet.dk Addresses and phone numbers are listed at the back of this booklet. The National Agency for Patients Rights and Complaints and The Disciplinary Board of the National Health Services are not able to award compensation. This is the remit of The Patient Insurance Association (Patientforsikringen) for further information, please see Compensation below. Complaints about hospital service Service-related complaints are complaints about the conduct of staff, physical premises, service levels, meals etc. Your complaint should be submitted to any of the following: the management of the department you have had contact with; the management at the hospital in question; The Patient Office for Region Syddanmark. Remember to include your name, address, telephone number or address for further contact. 9. Adverse events As a patient or next of kin, you are entitled to report an adverse event that has occurred at the hospital. An adverse event is any event that was not scheduled to happen and which for some reason did not happen according to expectations. Because of certain safety measures being inadequate or flawed, this led to a patient being injured or put at risk of injury. 8

9 As a patient or next of kin, you are often the first to notice when something is about to go wrong, or when an error arises. By learning from past experience, the hospital can prevent this from happening again. It is therefore important for the hospital to be made aware of any errors or adverse events. On you will find an official form for writing a report on an adverse event. Full instructions are included with this form. For further information on how to report adverse events, please go to Compensation Compensation for injury caused by treatment If you suffer physical injury in connection with any examination or treatment performed at a hospital in Denmark, you are entitled to seek compensation from The Patient Insurance Association (Patientforsikringen). Patients who are referred by a public sector hospital to receive treatment in a private hospital or clinic in Denmark or abroad are also entitled to seek compensation from The Patient Insurance Association. Likewise, you are entitled to seek compensation if you have suffered an accident during treatment at the hospital, provided that this accident occurred on hospital premises. However, this only applies if the hospital can be made liable for damages arising from such an accident according to the general rules of the law of torts. The amount of compensation must be no less than DKK 10,000. You cannot be awarded compensation purely because the result of a treatment failed to meet your expectations. You must report any injury no more than 3 years from when you became aware of the injury, and no more than 10 years from when the injury occurred. Separate rules apply to organ donors and healthy test subjects. Compensation for injury caused by medication Denmark has a special compensation scheme for patients suffering physical injury as a result of using edication. This compensation scheme applies to cases of physical injury caused by medication dispensed to the patient. The amount of compensation must be no less than DKK 3,000. You cannot be awarded compensation for any injury resulting from the medication not being effective against your illness. You must report an injury caused by medication no more than 3 years from when you became aware of the injury. 9

10 Notification If you wish to seek compensation, you must notify The Patient Insurance Association of your injury by using an official Notification Form. This form is available from the hospital and the Patient Office for Region Syddanmark, or by download from Free hospital choice Information on waiting times Information on waiting times for the treatment of specific illnesses may be found on provided by the Danish Ministry of Health, or by speaking to a Patient Advisor. Speak to your doctor about your choice of hospital, and let him or her advise you on your choice. This is the best way to ensure a satisfactory solution. Referrals Your doctor must refer you to your hospital of choice. Please note that if your condition deteriorates, your doctor is entitled to decide whether your referral should be changed. The hospital will then be able to bring forward your treatment if this is practically possible. Maximum waiting times Life-threatening cancer and heart disease must be treated within a specific 9 time frame. If you have been referred to a hospital that is unable to meet the treatment time guarantee, the hospital is obliged to use its own powers to refer you to a different hospital in Denmark or abroad. Using your right to free hospital choice If you wish to exercise your right to free hospital choice, it is advisable that you choose your preferred hospital prior to your preliminary examination. This is due to the fact that some hospitals will not accept preliminary examinations carried out at a different hospital. Extended free hospital choice If you have been referred for treatment at a hospital in your local region, your rights to choose are extended if you have to wait for more than 2 months to receive your actual treatment. In that case, you are entitled to choose to be treated either in private hospitals or clinics in Denmark, or in hospitals abroad which have entered into a special agreement with the Danish regions. Please be aware that the extended rule of free choice only applies to certain types of treatment. If you have been referred for treatment for a severe illness, your rights to choose are extended already if you have to wait for more than 1 month. You can read more about this on www. sygehusvalg.dk 12. Transport to and from hospital As a general rule, you are responsible for organising your own transport to and from hospital, and you must pay your own travel costs. However, because 10

11 a number of exceptions apply, it is possible in certain cases to provide reimbursement of transport costs or offer transport for free. You can read more about this on www. regionsyddanmark.dk under the heading Sundhed/Borger/Patientbefordring. A special leaflet on transport, Transport til og fra sygehuset, is also available. This explains in more detail the rules on transport and reimbursement of transport costs. Special rules apply to pensioners, and these are also included in the leaflet. Transport in connection with free hospital choice If you choose to receive treatment at a hospital outside your local region, even though your doctor has not deemed this necessary for treating your illness, you must organize your own transport to and from the hospital, and you must pay all or some of your travel costs. 13. Advice from The Patient Office (Patientkontoret), Region Syddanmark Patient Advisors are available at the Patient Office of your Regional Council (Regionshuset). The Patient Advisors role is to support patients and provide residents with information on the Danish Healthcare Service, including such areas as: patient rights; how to clear up any misconceptions; advice on avenues for complaint and compensation; free hospital choice; waiting times. The home page of the Danish Ministry of Health, has several useful links, including information from The Danish National Board of Health (Sundhedsstyrelsen) regarding medication and reimbursement for medicines. Should you be entitled to any subsequent reimbursement, this will be calculated according to the rules for reimbursement of transport costs to the hospital closest to your home which would have been able to provide the treatment. 11

12 Lillebaelt Hospital Kabbltoft Vejle Tlf sygehuslillebaelt.dk Contact information Patientkontoret, Regionshuset Damhaven 12 DK-7100 Vejle P: M: W: regionsyddanmark.dk Patientombuddet Finsensvej 15 DK-2000 Frederiksberg P: M: W: patientombuddet.dk Lillebaelt Hospital Kabbeltoft 25 DK-7100 Vejle P: M: W: sygehuslillebaelt.dk Patientforsikringen Nytorv 5, 3. sal DK-1450 København K P: M: pf@patientforsikringen.dk W: patientforsikringen.dk Kommunikation, information booklet , October 2014