Bill of rights of patients in Iran
1- It is the patient’s right to receive the desired health services
The provision of health services must:
1-1- Be worthy of human dignity and with respect for values, cultural and religious beliefs.
1-2- It should be based on honesty, fairness, politeness and kindness.
1-3- Be independent of any discrimination, including ethnic, cultural, religious, type of disease and gender.
1-4- Based on current knowledge.
5-1- It should be based on the superiority of the patient’s interests.
6-1- The distribution of health resources should be based on justice and treatment priorities of patients.
7-1- It should be based on the coordination of the elements of care including prevention, diagnosis, treatment and rehabilitation.
8-1- Along with the provision of all basic and necessary amenities and away from imposing pain and suffering and unnecessary restrictions.
1-9- Pay special attention to the rights of vulnerable groups in society, including children, pregnant women, the elderly, mental patients, prisoners, the mentally and physically disabled, and people without guardians.
10-1- As soon as possible and with respect to the patient’s time.
11-1- Considering variables such as language, age and gender of service recipients.
12-1- In urgent care (emergency), it should be done regardless of its cost. In non-urgent cases, be based on defined criteria.
13-1- In urgent and urgent care (emergency), if it is not possible to provide appropriate services, it is necessary to provide the basis for transferring the patient to an equipped unit after providing the necessary services and the necessary explanations.
14-1- In the final stages of life, when the condition of the disease is irreversible and the death of the patient is imminent, it should be provided with the aim of maintaining his comfort. Comfort means reducing the patient’s pain and suffering, paying attention to the psychological, social, spiritual and emotional needs of him and his family at the time of death. The dying patient has the right to be accompanied by the person he wants in the last moments of his life.
2- The information should be provided to the patient in a suitable and sufficient manner.
2-1- The content of the information should include the following:
2-1-1- The provisions of the patient’s rights charter at the time of admission
2-1-2- The criteria and predictable costs of the hospital, including medical and non-medical services, insurance criteria and the introduction of support systems at the time of admission
2-1-3- The name, responsibility and professional rank of the members of the medical group responsible for providing care, including doctors, nurses and students, and their professional relationship with each other
2-1-4- Diagnostic and treatment methods and the strengths and weaknesses of each method and its possible complications, disease diagnosis, prognosis and complications, as well as all the information that affects the patient’s decision-making process.
2-1-5- How to access the attending physician and the main members of the medical team during the treatment
2-1-6- All actions that are research in nature.
2-1-7- Providing necessary training for the continuation of treatment
2-2- The way of providing information should be as follows:
2-2-1- The information should be provided at the right time and according to the patient’s conditions, including anxiety and pain, and his/her individual characteristics, including language, education, and understanding, unless the delay in starting the treatment is due to the provision of the above information. causes harm to the patient or the patient refuses to do so despite being informed of the right to receive information, in which case the patient’s request must be respected unless the patient’s lack of information puts him or others at risk.
2-2-2- The patient can have access to all the information recorded in his clinical file and receive its image and request the correction of the errors contained in it.
3- The patient’s right to freely choose and make decisions in receiving health services should be respected.
3-1- The range of choice and decision is about the following:
3-1-1- Selection of the treating physician and the main provider of health services within the framework of the criteria
3-1-2- Choosing and asking the opinion of the second doctor as a consultant
3-1-3- Participation or non-participation in any research, with the assurance that his decision will not affect the continuity and way of receiving health services.
3-1-4- Accepting or rejecting the suggested treatments after being aware of the possible side effects of accepting or rejecting them, except in cases of suicide or cases where refusing treatment puts another person at serious risk.
3-1-5- Announcing the patient’s previous opinion about the future treatment measures when the patient has decision-making capacity and is recorded as a guide for medical measures when he/she lacks decision-making capacity in compliance with the legal criteria considered by health service providers and decision-making The recipient should replace the patient.
2-3- Selection and decision-making conditions include the following:
3-2-1- Patient selection and decision-making should be free and informed, based on receiving sufficient and comprehensive information (mentioned in the second paragraph).
3-2-2- After providing the information, the patient should be given enough time to make a decision and choose.
4- The provision of health services should be based on respecting the patient’s privacy (right to privacy) and observing the principle of confidentiality.
4-1- It is mandatory to observe the principle of confidentiality regarding all information related to the patient, except in cases where the law has made an exception.
4-2- The patient’s privacy must be respected in all stages of care, including diagnostic and therapeutic. For this purpose, it is necessary to provide all necessary facilities to guarantee the patient’s privacy.
4-3- Only the patient and the treatment group and authorized persons on behalf of the patient and persons deemed authorized by law can access the information.
4-4- The patient has the right to have a trusted person with him during the diagnostic process, including examinations. Accompanying one of the child’s parents throughout
Treatment procedures are the child’s right, unless this is contrary to medical necessity.
5- Access to an efficient complaint handling system is a patient’s right.
5-1- Every patient has the right to complain to the competent authorities in case of violation of his rights, which is the subject of this charter, without disrupting the quality of receiving health services.
2-5- Patients have the right to be informed about the procedure and results of their complaints.
5-3- The damage caused by the error of the health service providers must be compensated in the shortest possible time after investigation and proof according to the regulations.
In the implementation of the provisions of this charter, if the patient lacks decision-making capacity for any reason, the exercise of all the rights of the patient – mentioned in this charter – will be the responsibility of the substitute legal decision-maker. Of course, if the substitute decision-maker prevents the patient’s treatment against the doctor’s opinion, Pezak can appeal the decision through the relevant authorities.
If a patient who lacks sufficient capacity to make a decision, but can make a reasonable decision in a part of the treatment process, his decision should be respected.