5-principle Charter of Patient Rights in Iran

This charter has been regulated according to high human values based on Islamic and Iranian culture and based on equality of inherent dignity of all health care recipients with the aim of maintaining, promoting and strengthening the human relationship between health care providers and recipients.

 

Principle 1: Receiving optimal health services is the patient's right

The provision of health services should be such that:

1. Be worthy of human dignity and respect for values, cultural and religious beliefs.

2. Be based on honesty, fairness, politeness and kindness.

3. Regardless of discrimination, including ethnic, cultural, religious, type of disease and gender.

4. Be based on the knowledge of the day.

5. Be based on the superiority of the patient's interests.

6- Distribution of health resources is based on justice and treatment priorities of patients.

7. Be based on coordination of the pillars of care, including prevention, diagnosis, treatment and rehabilitation.

8. Together with the provision of all basic and necessary amenities and away from the imposition of unnecessary suffering and restrictions.

9. Pay special attention to the rights of vulnerable groups of society, including children, pregnant women, the elderly, mentally ill, prisoners, mentally and physically disabled, and unaccompanied persons.

10. Be patient as quickly as possible and with respect to time.

11. By taking into account variables such as language, age and gender of service recipients.

 

Principle 2: Information should be provided to the patient in an appropriate and adequate manner.

The content of the information should include:

1. Provisions of the Patient's Bill of Rights at the Time of Admission

2- Predictable hospital standards and costs including health and non-medical services and insurance regulations and introducing supportive systems at the time of admission

3- Name, responsibility and professional rank of medical team members responsible for providing care including physicians, nurses and students and their professional relationship with each other

4- Diagnostic and therapeutic methods and strengths and weaknesses of each method and its possible complications, diagnosis of the disease, prognosis and its complications as well as all the information affecting the patient's decision-making process

5- How to access the physician and the main members of the medical group during the treatment

6. All actions that have a research nature.

7. Providing essential training for continuity of treatment

 

The information should be as follows:

- Information should be provided at the appropriate time and in accordance with the patient's condition, including anxiety, pain and personal characteristics such as language, education and comprehension unless:

Delay in starting treatment by providing the above information causes harm to the patient. (In this case, the transfer of information after the necessary action must be carried out at the earliest time.)

The patient, despite the knowledge of the right to receive information, refuses to say that the patient's will should be respected unless the lack of information puts the patient, him or others at serious risk.

 

- The patient can access all the images of the information recorded in his clinical record and receive it and request the correction of the errors contained in it.

 

Principle 3: The right to choose and make free decisions for the patient in receiving health services should be respected.

The scope of selection and decision-making are as follows:

1- Choosing a physician and health care provider center within the framework of the criteria

2- Choosing and considering the second physician as a consultant

3. Participating or not participating in biological research by ensuring that his decision-making has no effect on the continuity and manner of receiving health services.

4. Accepting or refusing the proposed treatment after being aware of the possible complications of acceptance or rejection except in cases of suicide or in cases where refusal of treatment puts someone else at serious risk.

5- Announcing the patient's previous opinion about future treatment measures when the patient has the capacity to make decisions is recorded and as a guide for medical measures at the time of lack of decision-making capacity, in accordance with the legal standards, should be considered by health care providers and the patient's replacement decision maker.

 

The selection and decision-making conditions include:

1. The patient's choice and decision-making should be freely and consciously based on receiving sufficient and comprehensive information (mentioned in paragraph 2).

2- After providing the information, the patient should be given enough time to make decisions and make choices.

 

Principle 4: The provision of health services should be based on respect for patient privacy and observance of the principle of confidentiality.

1. Observance of the principle of confidentiality regarding all information relating to the patient is mandatory unless the law has excluded it.

2. Patient privacy should be respected at all stages of care, including diagnosis and treatment. It is necessary to provide all necessary facilities to ensure the patient's privacy

3. Only the patient and the treatment group and authorized persons can access the information on behalf of the patient and those deemed authorized by law.

4. The patient has the right to accompany a trusted person at the diagnostic stages, including examinations. Accompanying one of the parents of the child at all stages of treatment is the right of the child unless it is against medical necessities.

 

Principle 5: Access to an efficient system for handling complaints is the patient's right.

1. Each patient has the right to file a complaint with the competent authorities without impairing the quality of health services in the event of a claim of infringement of his rights which is the subject of this Charter.

2. Patients have the right to be informed of the manner in which they are handled and the results of their complaint.

3. Damage caused by the error of health care providers shall be compensated in the shortest possible time after the investigation and proof in accordance with the regulations.