17 Rights of Patients to be displayed at medical institutions in Tamil Nadu

Chennai: The Directorate of Medical and Rural Health Services in Tamil Nadu, has issued a directive instructing all government and private hospitals in the state to prominently display the charter of 17 rights of patients, their relatives, and family members.

This move follows recommendations from a state government committee formed to protect patient rights in medical institutions. As per the directive, all Joint Directors of Health Services have been instructed to ensure that these rights are clearly displayed in all government hospitals.

Additionally, private hospitals across the state have been requested to follow the same guidelines. The rights, as outlined in the official document, were prepared by the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) and were formulated based on guidelines issued by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare in 2018.

Also read- NHRC highlights rights of patients and doctors, raises concern on violence against medical professionals

"All the Joint Directors of Health Services are instructed to arrange for displaying the rights of patients, relatives, and family members mentioned in the Annexure in all Government institutions, as the Committee formed in this regard has recommended to adopt the draft guidelines by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, New Delhi vide Ref. No. Z-28015/09/2018-MH-II dated 30.08.2018, as Charter of Patients Rights for adoption by the National Human Rights Commission. The Joint Directors of Health Services are also instructed to request all the private medical institutions in their districts to display the same," reads the circular issued by Dr. J. Rajamoorthy, Director of Medical and Rural Health Services on February 6. 

Further, Dr. J. Rajamoorthy, Director of Medical and Rural Health Services, instructed the Joint Directors of Health Services of all districts to submit the action taken report to this Directorate without delay. 

The 17 key rights of patients, their relatives and family members are as follows- 

• Right to information about their medical condition and treatment.
• Right to access medical records and reports.
• Right to emergency medical care without discrimination.
• Right to informed consent before any procedure.
• Right to privacy, dignity, and confidentiality.
• Right to seek a second medical opinion.
• Right to transparency in medical fees and prescribed rates.
• Right to non-discrimination in treatment.
• Right to receive safe and quality medical care as per standards.
• Right to choose alternative treatment options where available.
• Right to choose where to obtain medicines and tests.
• Right to proper referral and transfer without commercial influence.
• Right to protection if involved in clinical trials.
• Right to protection in biomedical and health research.
• Right to discharge a patient or receive the body of a deceased relative.
• Right to patient education about health and medical care.
• Right to be heard and seek redressal in case of grievances.

Medical Dialogues recently reported that the National Medical Commission (NMC) has now decided to take up patient appeals against state medical councils' orders. Even though this provision was already there during the erstwhile Medical Council of India (MCI), since 2020, NMC, which replaced MCI, has been rejecting appeals by patients. Relying on Section 30(3) of the NMC Act 2019, the Commission had time and again clarified that only doctors had the right to appeal against the State Medical Council's rulings.

However, this scenario is soon going to change as NMC has now decided that all appeals received by the Ethics and Medical Registration Board (EMRB) will be entertained. NMC mentioned this decision in the minutes of the 16th meeting held on 23rd September 2024, a copy of which was shared with Dr. K V Babu, who filed an RTI application in this regard.

Also read- Patients can file appeals against state medical councils orders: NMC