Extracts from the Patients’ Rights Act No 46 of 21 January 2003
CHAPTER I
Article 1
For the purposes of this Act:
(a) patient means a healthy or sick person using health services;
b) discrimination means the distinction made between persons in similar situations on the basis of race, sex, age, ethnicity, national or social origin, religion, political opinions or personal dislike;
(c) health care means medical services, community services and services related to health care;
(d) medical intervention means any examination, treatment or other medical act for the purpose of preventive diagnosis, therapy or rehabilitation;
(e) terminal care means care given to a patient with available means of treatment when it is no longer possible to improve the fatal prognosis of the condition and care given near death.
Article 2
Patients have the right to the highest quality health care available to society, in accordance with human, financial and material resources.
Article 3
The patient has the right to be respected as a human person without any discrimination.
CHAPTER II: The patient’s right to medical information
Article 4
The patient has the right to be informed about available medical services and how to use them.
Article 5
(1) The patient has the right to be informed of the identity and professional status of health care providers.
(2) The hospitalised patient has the right to be informed of the rules and customs he/she must observe during hospitalisation.
Article 6
The patient has the right to be informed about his/her health condition, the proposed medical interventions, the potential risks of each procedure, the existing alternatives to the proposed procedures, including non-treatment and non-compliance with medical recommendations, as well as about diagnostic and prognostic data.
Article 7
The patient has the right to decide whether he or she still wishes to be informed if the information presented by the doctor would cause him or her distress.
Article 8
Information shall be made known to the patient in respectful, clear language, with the minimisation of specialist terminology. If the patient does not speak Romanian, the information shall be given in the patient’s mother tongue or in a language known to the patient or, where appropriate, another form of communication shall be sought.
If the patient is not a Romanian citizen, the information shall be given in a language of international circulation or, where appropriate, another form of communication shall be sought.
Article 9
The patient has the right to expressly request not to be informed and to choose another person to be informed instead of him/her.
Article 10
Relatives and friends of the patient may be informed about the progress of investigations, diagnosis and treatment with the patient’s consent.
Article 11
The patient has the right to request and obtain another medical opinion.
Article 12
The patient or the person expressly designated by the patient, as provided for in Articles 9 and 10, has the right to receive, on discharge, a written summary of the investigations, diagnosis, treatment, care provided during the period of hospitalisation and, on request, a copy of the records of the high-performance investigations, once only.
CHAPTER III: Patient consent to medical intervention
Article 13
The patient has the right to refuse or stop a medical intervention by taking responsibility for their decision in writing; the consequences of refusing or stopping medical acts must be explained to the patient.
Article 14
When the patient is unable to express his or her wishes, but emergency medical intervention is necessary, medical staff shall have the right to infer the patient’s consent from a previous expression of his or her wishes.
Article 15
If the patient requires emergency medical intervention, the consent of the legal representative is no longer required.
Article 16
Where the consent of the legal representative is required, the patient must be involved in the decision-making process to the extent that his/her capacity for understanding allows.
Art. 17
(1) If health care providers consider that the intervention is in the patient’s best interests and the legal representative refuses to give his consent, the decision shall be referred to a specialist arbitration committee.
(2) The arbitration commission consists of 3 doctors for inpatients in hospitals and 2 doctors for outpatients.
Art. 18
The patient’s consent is mandatory for the collection, storage and use of all biological products taken from his/her body in order to establish the diagnosis or treatment with which he/she agrees.
Article 19
The patient’s consent is required for participation in clinical medical education and scientific research. Persons who are not capable of expressing their will may not be used for scientific research, unless consent is obtained from their legal representative and the research is also in the patient’s interest.
Article 20
The patient may not be photographed or filmed in a medical facility without his or her consent, unless the images are necessary for diagnosis or treatment and to avoid suspicion of medical negligence.
CHAPTER IV: The right to confidentiality of information and privacy of the patient
Article 21
All information concerning the patient’s condition, results of investigations, diagnosis, prognosis, treatment, personal data are confidential even after the patient’s death.
Article 22
Information of a confidential nature may be provided only if the patient gives his/her explicit consent or if the law expressly requires it.
Article 23
If the information is needed by other accredited health care providers involved in the patient’s treatment, consent is no longer required.
Art. 24
(1) The patient has access to personal medical data.
(2) The patient shall have the right to designate, by an agreement recorded in the annex to the general clinical record, a person who shall have full access, both during the patient’s lifetime and after the patient’s death, to the confidential information in the record.
Article 25
(1) Any interference in the patient’s private, family life is prohibited, except where such interference positively influences the diagnosis, treatment or care provided and only with the patient’s consent.
(2) Exceptions shall be made in cases where the patient is a danger to himself or to public health.
CHAPTER VI: Patient’s rights to treatment and care
Article 29
(1) Where providers are obliged to select patients for certain types of treatment which are available in limited numbers, selection shall be made on the basis of medical criteria only.
(2) The medical criteria for the selection of patients for certain types of treatment shall be drawn up by the Ministry of Health and Family within 30 days from the date of entry into force of this Act and shall be made public.
Article 30
(1) Medical interventions on the patient may be carried out only if the necessary equipment and accredited personnel are available.
(2) Exceptions to the provisions of para. (1) are emergency cases arising in extreme situations.
Article 31
The patient has the right to terminal care in order to die with dignity.
Article 32
The patient may benefit from the support of family, friends, spiritual and material support and advice throughout the medical care. At the patient’s request, as far as possible, the care and treatment environment shall be created as close as possible to the family environment.
Article 33
The inpatient is also entitled to medical services provided by an accredited doctor outside the hospital.
Art. 34
(1) Medical or non-medical staff in health care institutions shall not subject the patient to any form of pressure in order to induce the patient to reward them otherwise than as provided for by the legal payment regulations of the institution concerned.
(2) The patient may offer additional payments or donations to the employees or the establishment where he/she has been treated, subject to the law.
Article 35
(1) The patient shall have the right to continuous medical care until his/her health condition improves or until he/she is cured.
(2) Continuity of care shall be ensured through collaboration and partnership between the various public and non-public, inpatient and outpatient, specialist and general medical units, provided by doctors, mid-level staff or other qualified personnel. After discharge, patients are entitled to available community services.
Article 36
The patient has the right to emergency medical care, emergency dental care and pharmaceutical services on a continuous basis.