Фундаментални права и здравно обслужване
Fundamental rights and health services

Summary/Abstract: Access to high quality medical services is a basic right of every EU citizen. Over the last years, there have been increasing discussions on this topic around the world in light not only of the rising patients’ expectations but also in connection to employers’ and governments’ requirements for quality health care and lower health expenditure. Improving quality in our health system means delivering adequate medical services to every patient at any time. This article presents an overview of patients’ rights since the beginning of the 20th century when specific protection of these rights first started. At that moment, for the first time relations between medical doctor and patients were legally stipulated based on the principles of human dignity, fairness and impartiality, solidarity and professional ethics. When WHO was established in 1946 it was stated that „The enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of health is one of the fundamental rights of every human...“ Today legal protection of patients’ rights is widely recognized around the world. Fundamental rights and health services are presented in this article as well as the different approaches in EU legislation in particular how these rights are regulated in Bulgaria. The focus is put on the issues linked to patients’ rights. Some conclusion are drawn such as dissatisfaction of patients with the provided services, inefficiency and inefficacy of medical care, high social expenditure due to the fact that low quality health services are very expensive, malpractice, violation of basic patients rights etc. All of the above requires implementation of: strategies for assuring and assessing quality; registration system of malpractice and medical mistakes as well as development of a comprehensive legal document for protection of patients’ rights.

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