My rights as a patient: frequently asked questions
That is possible, but it does not have to be the same person.
Your confidant will help you while you are mentally competent, but you will exercise your rights yourself. Your representative will act on your behalf when you are no longer mentally competent and will then exercise your rights as a patient in your place.
Appointing your confidant as your representative can have an advantage. That person, who knows you well and whom you trust, can continue to help you. First as a confidant when you can still make decisions yourself. Later, when you can no longer exercise your patient rights yourself, that same person will help you as a representative. This can ensure that your values, preferences for care and life goals are respected as much as possible.
Yes, as a surviving relative you can file a complaint for a patient who has died. A distinction is made between a minor and an adult deceased patient:
- Is the deceased patient a minor? Then the patient's representatives, in principle the parents , can file a complaint. Unless the minor patient has objected to this.
- Is the deceased patient of legal age? The following people can file a complaint: the spouse, the legally cohabiting partner, the de facto cohabiting partner, the blood relative up to and including the second degree, the representative of the patient. Unless the adult patient has objected to this.
Yes, the person or persons you appoint as a representative always have priority over the legal order of precedence laid down in the law. You can find this order of precedence on the page Right to a representative or a confidant. If you appoint multiple persons, you must indicate in which order they act.
Please note that you must be legally competent at the time you appoint your representative. And you must appoint your representative in writing. You can do this using a form that you can find on the page about Right to a representative or a confidant. You and your representative must sign and date this.
It is important that healthcare providers know that you have a declaration of will.
Be sure to tell your GP and, if necessary, other treating physicians. Ask them to add your declaration of will to your patient file.
Your confidant or representative can also pass this on to a healthcare provider. Even if you are later unable to say anything yourself, your declaration of will remains an important document. It reflects what you consider important.
Your confidant and representative know you well and can help ensure that your wishes are respected in the future. So be sure to inform your confidant or representative of your will.
CM offers a lot of information about your rights as a patient. Other interesting websites with information about patient rights include:
- In order to be able to make an autonomous decision about treatment, it is important that you are competent. In principle, everyone is competent, until proven otherwise.
- You are incapacitated if you can no longer understand and weigh the information from the care provider, do not understand the consequences of your decision and/or cannot make a decision. This is the case, for example, with advanced dementia or a coma.
- There is no objective measuring instrument to determine whether someone is incapacitated or not. It must therefore be determined per decision and per situation.
- Capacity to make decisions depends on the context and the question being asked. For example, someone can sometimes still decide on a day out, but not on a mortgage or euthanasia. Whether or not you are incapacitated can best be determined by a healthcare provider.
A broad group of healthcare providers must respect your rights as a patient. This includes:
- Doctors and other medical professions:
- doctors
- dentists
- pharmacists
- midwives
- physiotherapists
- Nursing and support staff:
- nurses
- healthcare professionals
- Psychological care:
- clinical psychologists
- clinical educational psychologists
- psychotherapists (even if they are not a recognized healthcare provider, but work under the supervision of a physician, clinical psychologist or clinical educational psychologist in an interdisciplinary context)
- Emergency services - ambulance personnel
- Paramedics, such as:
- bandagist
- orthotist and prosthetist
- dietician
- occupational therapist
- pharmaceutical technical assistant
- medical imaging technologist
- medical laboratory technologist
- speech therapist
- podiatrist
- audiologist and hearing aid specialist
- dental hygienist
- orthoptist
- optometrist
- ambulance driver for non-urgent patient transport
- practice assistant
- Non-conventional practices, such as:
- osteopaths
- chiropractors
- acupuncturists
- homeopaths
Please note: every healthcare provider must respect the rights of the patient within their legal authority. This means, for example, that healthcare providers may only provide information or care for which they are legally authorised. For example: a physiotherapist must explain exercises for a physiotherapy treatment after an operation, but not the operation itself. This explanation falls within the authority of the physician involved.
As long as you are competent, you exercise your rights as a patient yourself. However, you may need a person to support you during conversations with doctors and other healthcare providers. This is your confidant. This person will support you, but cannot decide anything on your behalf. You do not have to formally appoint a confidant. For example, you can ask a family member or friend to assist you.
If you are incapacitated, you can no longer exercise your rights as a patient yourself. Then it is up to the representative to act on your behalf. This person does this to the extent and as long as you are unable to exercise your rights yourself. The representative must always take into account your values, preferences for current and future care and life goals. The representative must involve you as much as possible, in proportion to your level of understanding at that time.