A patient is defined as any recipient of healthcare services provided by medical professionals. The doctor-patient relationship has historically silenced patients, but putting patients at the center of their own care through consistent, informative, and respectful service improves both outcomes and satisfaction. When institutional targets replace local concerns, patient neglect can occur. Patients spend more time in the healthcare system than regulators and are good at identifying soft problems like attitudes, communication, and caring neglect. One way to center care on patients is for healthcare systems to be more transparent about patient complaints, which contain valuable information for improvement. Along with patient rights to access, information, privacy, and quality care, patients have responsibilities of honest disclosure, treatment compliance, transparency, respecting conduct rules

1. Dr. Mithilesh Kumar Singh
Department of Biochemistry
Noida International Institute of Medical Sciences
Greater Noida, UP
What does patient mean?
A patient is any recipient of health care services that are performed by health
care professionals. The patient is most often ill or injured and in need of
treatment by a physician, nurse, psychologist, dentist, veterinarian, or other
health care provider.
The doctor-patient relationship has sometimes been characterized as
silencing the voice of patients. It is now widely agreed that putting patients at
the centre of healthcare by trying to provide a consistent, informative and
respectful service to patients will improve both outcomes and patient
satisfaction.
When patients are not at the centre of healthcare, when institutional
procedures and targets eclipse local concerns, then patient neglect is
possible. There are many reasons for why health services should listen more
to patients. Patients spend more time in healthcare services than regulators
or quality controllers, and can recognize problems such as service delays, poor
hygiene, and poor conduct. Patients are particularly good at identifying soft
problems, such as attitudes, communication, and caring neglect that are
difficult to capture with institutional monitoring.
One important way in which patients can be placed at the centre of healthcare
is for health services to be more open about patient complaints. Each year
many hundreds of thousands of patients complain about the care they have
received, and these complaints contain valuable information for any health
services which want to learn about and improve patient experience.
Rights of the patients:
 Right to access medical care
 Right to information
 Right to records and reports
 Right to confidentiality, human dignity and privacy
 Right to second opinion
 Right to safety and quality care according to standards
 Right to proper referral and transfer & continuity of care
 Right to informed consent
 Right to redress
Responsibilities of patients and caretakers
Along with patient rights, patients & their caretakers shall follow their
responsibilities so that doctors and health care provider can perform their
work satisfactorily.

2. Dr. Mithilesh Kumar Singh
Department of Biochemistry
Noida International Institute of Medical Sciences
Greater Noida, UP
Honesty in Disclosure:
 Patient should be honest with doctor & disclose family/ medical history
as much information as about present health, past illness allergies and
any other relevant details.
Treatment Compliance:
 Patients should cooperate with the doctor during examination,
diagnostic tests and treatment, and should follow doctor’s advice, while
keeping in view their right to participate in decision making related to
treatment.
 Patients should follow all instructions regarding appointment time &
notify the hospital as early as possible if you are unable to visit and
realistic expectations from doctor and his treatment.
Transparency and Honesty:
 Patient should not ask to provide any incorrect information or false
certificates and/or advocate forcefully by unlawful means.
 Patient should discuss outcomes of treatment with doctors if not
satisfied and make sincere effort to understand therapies which include
the medicines prescribed and their associated adverse effects and other
compliance for effective treatment outcomes.
Conduct:
 Patient should cooperate with hospital by following the rules like
waiting patiently for turn, not smoking, maintaining silence and not
bringing children below 10 years of age as visitors.
 Patients should respect the dignity of the doctor and other hospital staff
as human beings and as professionals and should not resort to violence
in any form and damage or destroy any property of the hospital in case
of grievance.
 Patient should help in keeping the hospital environment clean by using
garbage bins and not littering the premises.
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