Commissioner for Human Rights

EU-Directive on patients’ rights

Date:
Tagi: ue

In a statement to the Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk, Irena Lipowicz, the Human Rights Defender of Poland, underlined the necessity to urgently implement the Directive 2011/24/EU from 9 March 2011 on the application of patients’ rights in cross-border healthcare which has not yet been put into effect in Poland. The directive has not undergone the required legislative process yet. Therefore Polish patients cannot receive a reimbursement of health care costs borne in other EU member states. Hence, they are forced to protect their rights by taking legal actions at court. Despite previous declarations of the Health ministry a preparation of essential national regulations is still missing. Additionally, citizens are not sufficiently informed about the proceedings, which leads to questioning the principle of rule of law and trust in the public institutions.