| Abstract [eng] |
SUMMARY THE PROBLEMS OF IMPLEMENTATION OF PATIENTS’ RIGHTS IN HEALTHCARE INSTITUCIONS IN THE EUROPEAN UNION AND NATIONAL LAW Patients‘ rights and ensuring their protection is a problem of international level, therefore when implementing these rights in the legislation of the Republic of Lithuania has to be oriented towards principles acknowledged on international level. The purpose of this work is to analyse patients‘ rights defined by the acts of the European Union and international law and transferrance of the principles of these law acts into national law and implementation of those rights in healthcare institutions. The work has conducted analysis of the major documents of the European Union on ensuring patients‘ rights. The standart foundation of the European Union‘s human rights protection are the following sources: The Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, the constitutions of the countries comprising the European Union and general principles in the area of the protection of human rights. Therefore the constitutions of European countries, the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and other acts of the European Union and international law and the practice of the European Court of Human Rights and the European Court of Justice examining cases on defending patients’ rights as well have been analysed. The work reveals peculiarities of patients’ rights regulations in the acquis communautaire of the European Union. It could be stated that these acts of law do not directly specify patients‘ rights as separate personal rights. The following patients‘ rights could generaly be emphasized: right to get service with appropriate level of carefulness, right to safe healthcare, right to access to information and that information will not be disclosed, right to get personal treatment method and other rights. The regulation of all these rights in international law has to be transferred to national law. The most important acts of the Republic of Lithuania (RL), firstly the Constitution of RL, the Civil Code of RL, Patients‘ Rights and the law of the remuneration of health harm of RL have been analysed in this aspect in this work. The problems of implementing patients‘ rights in Lithuania have also been revealed in this work. It shows that patients are displeased with lack of doctors‘ attention, do not trust a doctor treating them, get little information about the development of an illness, their time is not respected and their right to choose a doctor although stated in the law is not implemented in practice. Right to confidentiality is regulated according to the Civil Code of RL, but patients think that in practice confidential information is not secured enough. Having analysed acts of law of RL and practice of the courts of RL it has been established that for example, right to appeal is implemented only partly, because almost half patients do not know where to appeal when they are not satisfied with service. Implemetation of right to compensation (remuneration of harm) is especially relevant, so this problem has been treated quite in detail. The work has analysed effectiveness of how patiens unite into public organisations and the most important aspects of this process have been emphasized. General conclusions have been formulated drawing on the done analysis and suggestion offerred about regulation of patients‘ rights and perfection of its implementation in Lithuania. Keywords: patient, healthcare institution, patients' rights, law acts, civil responsibility. |
