PATIENTS CHARTER

Patients’ Rights

The right to know

1. Patients have the right to know the medical fees or charges in advance.
2. Patients have the right to know the details of their illness, including diagnosis, progress, investigations, method, plan and effectiveness of treatment.
3. Patients have the right to know the name, dosage, method of administration, and side effects of the prescribed medications.
4. Patients have the right to know the purposes and common complications of any treatment procedures or investigations, and whether there are other alternative methods before giving consent to these procedures.
5. Patients have the right to obtain information concerning their illness. They are entitled to request a medical report from their attending doctor(s) or a copy of the medical record from the group but may be required to pay respective processing charges. Patients should ask about the payable charges in advance.

The right to decide

6. Patients have the right to consult more than one doctor before giving consent for any treatment.
7. Patients have the right to decide whether to accept or refuse any medical advice from their doctors. If patients decide to refuse the recommendations from their doctors, they should understand the consequences of their decision and be responsible for any possible outcome.
8. Patients have the right to decide whether or not to participate in medical research.

The right to privacy and confidentiality

9. Patients are entitled to privacy and confidentiality regarding their medical information.
10. Unless with patients’ prior consent for disclosure, any information collected during the management of their illness should be kept confidential, as far as practicable, by all medical personnel. However, sometimes in order to facilitate the management of illness, doctors may have to disclose health information to other relevant medical personnel.
11. Under special circumstances, when patients are suspected to be involved in illegal activities, doctors may also disclose such information to relevant authorities.

The right to complain

12. Patients should be made to gain a good understanding of their illness and the treatment. If they are dissatisfied with their medical care, they can make a complaint to the medical personnel or the group’s administration.

The right to complain

13. Patients’ dignity, culture and religious belief should be respected.