Rights and Responsibilities

Rights and Responsibilities in Hospital

As a patient, you have certain rights and responsibilities within the healthcare system.

Access - You have a right to health care.

Safety - You have a right to receive safe and high quality care.

Respect - You have a right to be shown respect, dignity and consideration.

Communication - You have a right to be informed about services, treatment, options and costs in a clear and open way.

Participation - You have a right to be included in decisions and choices about your care.

Privacy - You have a right to privacy and confidentiality of your personal information.

Comment - You have a right to comment on your care and to have your concerns addressed.

If you need more information about your rights, please request a copy of the Patient Rights and Responsibilities brochure from your Nurse.

At all times you must:

• Answer questions about your health frankly and honestly, including information which may place staff at risk.
• Be considerate towards other patients and staff.
• Not harass, abuse, assault or threaten staff.
• Cooperate with safe manual handling procedures.
• Let health workers know if you are not going to follow the treatment prescribed and accept responsibility for this action.
• Keep appointments and inform health workers if you can’t attend or are running late.
• Obey all signs to ensure the safety of staff, patients and visitors.
• For further information please refer to our patient's rights and responsibilities booklets and videos.

Confidentiality and Access to Medical Records

We are committed to treating your personal information in accordance with privacy laws.

We collect information directly from you wherever possible. If this is not possible, or in an emergency, we may also need to collect information from a family member, friend, carer or other person who can help us to provide you with appropriate health care.

Your information may be held in a variety of ways. Most commonly, your information may be held as a paper medical record, and/ or an electronic medical record forming part of a secure computerised database. Some information may also be held in the form of an image including x-ray or photograph, or as an audio or video recording. We follow strict rules and policies regarding the secure storage of personal information in all formats in order to protect your information from unauthorised access, loss or other misuse.

You are entitled to request access to all personal health information including your medical record held by the hospital. Normally, you will be asked to apply for access in writing and provide adequate identification. You are entitled to view your personal health information within your medical record whilst admitted or after discharge in the presence of a health professional. You may be charged a fee if you request copies of your personal information or medical record.

Requests for access to your medical record should be addressed to the Clinical Information Department.

Privacy

We may need to disclose your information outside the health service to enable appropriate health services to be provided to you. For example:

• Your nominated General Practitioner.
• Ambulance Service.

Or as a requirement by law. For example:

• To comply with a subpoena or search warrant if personal information is required as evidence in court.
• You may also access your health record for a fee through the Clinical Information Department.  There are special circumstances where this may be declined.

If you need more information about Privacy, please request a copy of the Privacy brochure from your nurse.