ADVANCING PATIENT’S RIGHTS IN THE NORDIC COUNTRIES

The issue of patients’ rights has received increasing attention at national and international levels in recent years. The topic of patients’ rights was under discussion at the recent seminar organised by the World Health Organisation (WHO) with the collaboration of the Nordic Council of Ministers and the Nordic School of Public Health in Copenhagen. In many countries, it is considered necessary to reinforce basic human rights with a set of specific rights that reflect the particular circumstances of the health-care sector. According to WHO’s report the Nordic countries have been very active in the development of patients’ rights legislation; three of these countries (Denmark, Finland and Iceland) have laws on patients’ rights in force. In Norway, such legislation is being prepared and in Sweden patients’ rights are incorporated in various legislative Acts. There are several factors driving the move to reinforce patients’ rights. Patients are reliant on the health-care system and on health-care professionals and are, therefore, potentially vulnerable; patients need mechanisms to promote and protect their rights. Recent significant developments in medical and information technology may have serious ethical as well as physical implications for human beings. Also, many countries are ‘undertaking action to contain costs and to ration health care delivery while holding a general political commitment to maintain and improve equity in health’. Patients’ rights, such as rights to good health care and treatment or to information and self-determination, are also very practical issues which every individual working in a health-care system meets in everyday practice. It is logical to assume that in the future patients’ rights in nursing will be an important topic due to the increase in patients’ awareness.