SUPRAM participates in a focus group on patients’ rights protection

Vice president of the SUPRAM Association, Dr Hajrija Mujovic Zornic participated in the work of the expert team discussing the proposal of Law on patients’ rights. The objective of the discussion was to find the best and sustainable solution for organizing the institute of patients’ rights protector. The work of this group was organized by the NGO “Legal scanner”, together with the Republic and Autonomous Regions Ombudsman Offices, and with the Commissioner for public information and for personal rights data protection. In her discussion Dr Mujovic Zornic emphasized the weaknesses of the proposal embedded in the Proposal of Law on patients rights which elaborates that patients rights protector should be moved from health institutions and, therefore, away from the citizens. She also emphasized that patients’ rights protector should not be financed by the health institution. Thus, he would be more independent in his work. Protector should be occupied only by the protection of patients’ rights and not by performing other administrative-legal activities. Dr Mujovics’ idea was to keep good and correct bad sides of the previous work of patients’ rights protectors and that he should represent the specialized form of the patients’ rights protection related to health. Protector should be placed “under to roof” of the Protector of the citizens rights in Serbia, organizationally, functionally, but in displaced premises. Thus, the citizens would gain considerable security in protection, which would be in direct correlation with the higher, national level. This would be of importance of the rationalization of the health care system, since it would not require the foundation of new institutions-councils for health in local municipalities. Dr Mujovic pointed out that the title-patients rights protector, should not be changed, since it is already known to the population and its is legally in accordance with the other relevant titles. Dr Mujovic supported the necessity of better reporting and education of the patients’ rights protectors.