Patients’ rights: from recognition to implementation

Patients’ rights can be seen as a precondition to empowering people and moving to health systems that are more person-centred. They provide a foundation for citizens to be considered as actors in control of their own health care delivery process. Increasingly, the challenges and potential solutions that health systems are facing are explored through a patients’ rights lens. Changes, such as the rapid ageing of the population and the rising burden of chronic conditions (including mental health problems), along with scientific and technological developments as well as cultural preferences, are creating new questions that are often debated within the context of fundamental rights, including self-determination, dignity and equality. The growing complexity of health care together with innovations in the fields of medicine (e.g. precision medicine) and of information and communication technology (ICT) (e.g. e-health), along with an increased focus on quality and safety, are likely to impact patients’ rights, especially with regard to privacy and equity