Bill of Rights

Objectives

• Define right & bill of rights.

• List the types of rights.
• Explain patient’s bill of rights
• Describe the role of paramedical staff in
relation to bill of rights.
Definitions

o Right
Is that which one has a legal or social claim to do.

o Bill of rights
A paper containing a declaration of rights.
o Patients’ Bill of rights:
A paper containing a declaration of rights of
patients.
Types of Rights

Legal Rights: The entitlement may derive from legal

system that permits or empowers the person to act in
a specified way or that requires others to act in certain
ways toward that person.

Right to Life: The right to life is the fundamental

right. The right to life states that you own your own
body. No one has the right to injure or take your life.
Right to Liberty
The right to liberty is a part of the right to life,
specifically referring to your freedom of action. You
may do what you want, when you want, provided you
don’t walk over the rights of anyone else.

Right to Property
Property rights are an extension to the right to life. In
order to support yourself and stay alive, you must be
able to own and use the product of your own.
Right to Happiness
It means that a man is free to do any thing he pleases,
as long as it doesn’t conflict with the rights of others.
Right to Free Speech:
Freedom of speech is required for liberty because
without the freedom of speech, you cannot adress
others of what is right and what is wrong.
Right to Self Defense
The right to defend yourself is important to life. You
must be able to protect what is yours when it is
threatened or challenged.
Moral Rights
o Are not dependent upon the laws, customs, or
beliefs of a particular society.
o based on moral norms and principles that specify
that all human beings are permitted or empowered
to do something or are entitled to have something
done for them.
o Unlike legal rights moral rights are not limited to a
particular jurisdiction/authority. enable individuals
to choose freely whether to pursue certain activities
or certain interests.
o The duty not to interfere with a person's activities in
a certain area. The right to privacy, for example,
imposes on us the duty not to intrude into the
private activities of a person.
Contractual Rights and Duties

Contractual rights and duties (sometimes called

special rights or special obligations) are the limited
rights and correlative duties that arise when one
person enters an agreement with another person.
For example, if I contract to do something for you,
then you are entitled to my performance: You acquire
a contractual right to whatever I promised, and I have
a contractual duty to perform as I promised.
Example: Employer-Employee relationship in which
both of them contract.
Patient’s Bill of Rights

American Hospital Association has affirmed a

“Patients’ Bill of Rights”

Purpose:
o It sets out the roles, rights and
responsibilities of patients, health care
providers and governments.
o All personnel must respect and honor these
rights.
Patients’ Bill of Rights
Patients’ Bill of Rights states that a patient has the right
to:
o Be treated respectfully.
o Obtain complete current information concerning his
or her diagnosis, treatment and prognosis (expected
outcome).
o Receive information necessary to give him or her
informed consent prior to the start of any procedure
or treatment.
o Privacy concerning his or her medical care program
o Confidential treatment of all communications and
records.
Contd..,
o Reasonable response to his or her request for
services.
o Obtain information regarding any relationship of the
hospital to other health care and educational
institutions.
o Be advised of and have the right to refuse to
participate in any research project.
o Review medical records and examine the bill and
receive an explanation of all charges.
o Be informed of any hospital rules and regulations
Patient’s Responsibilities
o To respect hospital personnel
o To follow caregivers’ instructions
o To respect care givers’ effort to provide care for
other patients
o To respect hospital property
o To provide the hospital with accurate and complete
information about medical history
o To abide by the policies of the organization
Role of a Paramedical staff in Patient’s Bill of
Rights
o They protects the clients Moral and legal rights
o Providing information to assist in decision making
o Explains concepts and facts about health, demonstrates
procedures
o To communicate with client, family and healthcare
team members.
o Is committed to improving the quality of patient care.
o To witness informed consent.
o They need to follow Patients’ Bill of rights
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