The charter was drawn up within 1992 in the Department of Health. Apart from being incorporated into the Government's Health Strategy, the charter has not been overtaken by any other declaration of patient rights.
Although it has no statutory basis in law, a European Patients' Charter is now being drafted for inclusion in the forthcoming European Constitution.
Although the charter should prominently displayed in Irish hospitals, you will be hard pressed to find one and in practice, the rights it outlines are routinely ignored. Also, the vast majority of people have never heard of it.
Under the charter, you have the following rights:
• To ask your consultant to transfer you elsewhere, if a recommended medical procedure is not available at the hospital
• To timely notice of any cancellation of elective admission by the hospital, and to be given a new, prioritised appointment
• To, as an out-patient, be given an individually-timed appointment with a consultant or senior doctor on your first appointment
• To receive adequate and timely notice of any out-patient cancellation, and to be given a new, prioritised appointment
The hospital must ensure that visiting arrangements are flexible, consistent with the nature of your illness and the needs of other patients
• To have your religious and philosophical beliefs respected
• To be told, in language you can fully understand, about your condition; the results of your tests and scans; all details of your proposed treatment; alternative forms of treatment; and risks and side-effects of any treatment
• Generally, informed consent for any treatment (or in the case of a child, the consent of a parent or guardian). "Only in cases where a patient lacks the capacity to give or withhold consent, and where a qualified medical doctor determines that treatment is urgently necessary, may treatment be given without informed consent."
• To request your medical records, unless "it would be considered that this would cause serious harm to your physical or mental health"
• To refuse to participate in the teaching of medical students by your consultant (your permission must be sought beforehand)
• To refuse to take part in clinical trials or research concerning the use of new drugs or medical devices (again, you must be asked)
• To complain about any aspect of hospital service, and to have the complaint investigated
• To have your complaint referred to the hospital's Complaints Committee, none of which prejudices your statutory rights to complain to the Ombudsman, the Medical Council and the Nursing Board