General provisions

  • Patients have the right to the highest quality health care available to society, in accordance with human, financial and material resources.
  • The patient has the right to be respected as a human being, without any discrimination.

Patient’s right to medical information

  • The patient has the right to be informed about the medical services available and how to use them.
  • The patient has the right to be informed of the identity and professional status of health care providers.
  • The inpatient has the right to be informed of the rules and customs to be observed during hospitalisation.
  • The patient has the right to be informed about his/her state of health, the proposed medical interventions, the potential risks of each procedure, the existing alternatives to the proposed procedures, including non-treatment and non-compliance with medical recommendations, as well as about diagnostic and prognostic data.
  • The patient has the right to decide whether he/she still wishes to be informed if the information presented by the doctor would cause him/her distress.
  • The information is made known to the patient in respectful, clear language, with the minimisation of specialist terminology. If the patient does not know Romanian, the information shall be given in the patient’s mother tongue or in a language he/she knows or, if necessary, another form of communication shall be sought.
  • If the patient is not a Romanian citizen, the information is provided in a language of international circulation or, if necessary, another form of communication is sought.
  • The patient has the right to expressly request not to be informed and to choose another person to be informed in his/her place.
  • Relatives and friends of the patient may be informed about the progress of investigations, diagnosis and treatment with the patient’s consent.
  • The patient has the right to ask for and obtain another medical opinion.
  • The patient, or a person expressly designated by the patient, has the right to receive, on discharge, a written summary of the investigations, diagnosis, treatment, care provided during hospitalization and, on request, a copy of the records of the high performance investigations, once only.

Patient’s consent for medical intervention

  • The patient has the right to refuse or stop a medical intervention by taking responsibility, in writing, for his/her decision; the consequences of refusing or stopping medical acts must be explained to the patient.
  • When the patient is unable to express his or her wishes, but an emergency medical intervention is necessary, the medical staff has the right to infer the patient’s consent from a previous expression of his or her wishes.
  • If the patient requires emergency medical intervention, the consent of the legal representative is no longer required.
  • If the consent of the legal representative is required, the patient must be involved in the decision-making process as far as his/her capacity to understand allows.
  • If healthcare providers consider the intervention to be in the patient’s best interests and the legal representative refuses to give consent, the decision is referred to a specialist arbitration board. The arbitration committee consists of 3 doctors for inpatients in hospitals and 2 doctors for outpatients.
  • The patient’s consent is required for the collection, storage and use of all biological products taken from his body in order to establish the diagnosis or treatment to which he agrees.
  • The patient’s consent is required for participation in clinical medical education and scientific research. Persons who are not capable of expressing their will may not be used for scientific research, unless consent is obtained from their legal representative and the research is also in the patient’s interest.
  • The patient may not be photographed or filmed in a medical facility without his or her consent, unless the images are necessary for diagnosis or treatment and to avoid suspicion of medical negligence.

The right to confidentiality of information and patient privacy

  • All information regarding the patient’s condition, investigation results, diagnosis, prognosis, treatment, personal data are confidential even after his death.
  • Confidential information can only be provided if the patient gives explicit consent or if the law expressly requires it.
  • If the information is needed by other accredited healthcare providers involved in the patient’s treatment, consent is no longer required.
  • The patient has access to personal medical data.
  • The patient has the right to designate, by an agreement recorded in an annex to the general clinical record, a person who will have full access, both during the patient’s lifetime and after the patient’s death, to the confidential information in the record.
  • Any interference in the patient’s private, family life is prohibited, except in cases where such interference positively influences the diagnosis, treatment or care provided and only with the patient’s consent. Exceptions are cases where the patient represents a danger to himself or to public health.

Patient’s rights in the field of reproduction

  • A woman’s right to life prevails if pregnancy is a major and immediate risk factor for the mother’s life.
  • The patient has the right to information, education and services necessary for the development of a normal sexual life and reproductive health without discrimination.
  • A woman’s right to decide whether or not to have children is guaranteed, unless pregnancy is a major and immediate risk factor for the mother’s life.
  • The patient, through health services, has the right to choose the safest methods of reproductive health.
  • Every patient has the right to safe and effective family planning methods.

Patient’s rights to treatment and care

  • Where providers are required to resort to selecting patients for certain types of treatment that are available in limited numbers, selection is based solely on medical criteria.
  • The medical criteria for the selection of patients for certain types of treatment are drawn up by the Ministry of Health and Family according to the legislation in force.
  • Medical interventions on the patient can be performed only if there are the necessary equipment conditions and accredited personnel.
  • The patient has the right to terminal care in order to die with dignity.
  • The patient can benefit from the support of family, friends, spiritual and material support and advice throughout the medical care. At the patient’s request, as far as possible, the care and treatment environment will be created as close as possible to the family environment.
  • The inpatient is also entitled to medical services provided by an accredited physician outside the hospital.
  • The medical or non-medical staff of health care facilities shall not subject the patient to any form of pressure to reward him/her other than as provided for by the legal payment regulations of the facility.
  • The patient may offer additional payments or donations to the employees or to the unit where he/she was cared for, in compliance with the law.
  • The patient has the right to continuous medical care until his/her health condition improves or until he/she is cured.
  • Continuity of care is ensured through collaboration and partnership between the various public and non-public, inpatient and outpatient, specialist and general medical units, provided by doctors, mid-level staff or other qualified personnel. After discharge, patients are entitled to available community services.
  • The patient is entitled to emergency medical care, emergency dental care and pharmaceutical services on a continuous basis.