Javnopravna zaštita pacijenata u pravnom sistemu Bosne i Hercegovine
Public-Legal Health Protection of Patients in the Legal System of Bosnia and Herzegovina

Author(s): Dženeta Hadžić
Subject(s): Law, Constitution, Jurisprudence, Constitutional Law, Human Rights and Humanitarian Law, Public Law, Evaluation research, Health and medicine and law
Published by: Fondacija Centar za javno pravo
Keywords: Public law; constitution; legal protection; justice system; BiH; patient; healthcare; patients rights;
Summary/Abstract: Presently there is no law regulating the rights of patients to health care in Bosnia and Herzegovina on country level. For this reason, there are no established mechanisms to protect the rights of the patients. In the Republic of Srpska and District Brčko of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the laws on health care, and in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Law on the Rights of the duties and responsibilities of patients, defined as patients' rights to health care and public legal mechanisms to protect the rights of patients. There is no protection of patients' rights in health-related decisions in administrative proceedings or before the administrative court, in the same way as in other cases of infringement of the rights of any other citizen. The rights of the patient to the personal dignity, in respect of time, to have access to medical records, to refuse receipt of the notification, the food in accordance with the worldview and others, do not enjoy the protection of public-law. Activity of the entire health system in Bosnia and Herzegovina is of particular importance for the country, and all the regulations that apply to this activity include public law elements. Legal assistance to patients is very limited. Patients are double handicapped because of their limited knowledge of medicine and medical technology. There is a significant presence of fear, because healthcare is always and only provided by health professionals in the health care system which is patients only option. We should keep in mind that the right to health care (in most cases, on the basis of compulsory health insurance) patients realized in a health care institution in the area where he lives, and that if you file a complaint, it believes it is right to continue to be withheld or that they will get less quality-service. The existing legal provisions are a good basis for further improvement of the public-law protection of patients' rights. Due to the large number of cases and the workload of the courts, one of the solutions that could be applied in the process of protecting the rights of the patient, is mediation. Mediation, as an alternative means of dispute resolution, to speed up the process of making decisions about protecting the rights of patients and thus to achieve better results.

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