Brussels, 03/10/2007 (Agence Europe) - At its plenary session, the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) adopted without debate the own-initiative opinion of Lucien Bouis (Various Interests Group, France) on patients' rights. This opinion relates to citizenship and patient dignity. It comes under the heading of the free movement of people.
In so doing, the Committee is making its contribution to the launch of the campaign aiming to see what can be done at European level in favour of these rights. Obviously, case law already exists on this issue, an EESC expert explained, but the idea of safeguarding the rights of patients in all member states is far from reality. The Committee laid emphasis on three rights, all of which present a cross-cutting aspect or are a pre-requisite of other rights: the right to information for the patient being treated, the right to dignity, and the right to free and enlightened consent to all decisions regarding him or her. As it is not the Committee's job to draft a Charter of Patient's Rights, it hopes that the Commission will draw up a list of the said rights in the various member states and identify convergences between them, the expert added. In other words, the Committee is asking the Commission, “which is not yet focused on patients' rights”, to do so, to produce a study detailing the areas of convergence between member states and to propose action. “The role of the Commission in terms of public health is to facilitate cooperation between the member states: the Committee is therefore calling on the Commission to take the bull by the horns”. In order to move things forward, the Committee will meet Health Commissioner Markos Kyprianou who, although he has already taken position before the European Parliament in favour of action, “has still not produced anything”, the European expert commented.
For many years now, the European countries and the European Community have been examining the issue of the rights of people using health services, by means of Charters or a veritable legislative arsenal to affirm these rights, the Committee points out in its opinion. In spite of this, research carried out by citizens' organisations in 14 member states of the EU shows that the level of protection for these rights varies enormously from one state to the next. This situation jeopardises the commitment of the European Commission to guarantee all European citizens effective access to health services, on the basis of the principle of solidarity. The opinion can be viewed at http://www.eesc.europa.eu. (gb)