Health law · Legal information

What Happens If the Family Is Not Informed in Intensive Care?

Author · Av. Ayşenur Konar, Avukat

Published ·

In short

The question of what happens if the family is not given information in intensive care does not mean that every record must be read to a relative. The Patient Rights Regulation takes as its starting point that the patient themselves is informed. Informing another person can be limited by the patient's signature. Where the patient is unconscious, a relative is not left entirely outside even if that signature is absent. Which sentence was said to whom is read from the file. A damages figure and a statistic are not in this article.

The visiting hour and the person to whom medical information is addressed are not the same line. One of them being closed does not by itself mean that the other was breached as well. A claim of breach asks for the person in the document and the person who was spoken to to stand side by side. A sum is not discussed before the two stand.

The person the patient named

Article 18 of the Regulation says that if the patient asks for someone else to be informed instead of themselves, that request is taken with a signature. If the request says "tell my spouse", telling everyone in the corridor is not part of that request. If there is no request at all, the staff telling nobody anything is also read separately. Article 20 also writes that the patient may ask that nobody be informed. That request is in writing, and it can be withdrawn.

If the written request is not in the file, it is left as absent. The gap that is left is not turned into an assumption that every relative saw every note. An assumption does not produce a damages figure either. An assumption that produces nothing does not stand in the petition as a statistic. The petition marks which sentence was said to whom, and which signature is missing.

When the patient is unconscious

Article 24 mentions that, where consent cannot be obtained in a life-threatening situation and unconsciousness, a relative who is present if possible, and otherwise a relative after the intervention, is informed. That sentence is not an examination of the whole intensive-care file by every relative. The route for a copy of the file stands in the record on the patient file. The account given with a parent in a child's treatment stands in the record on consent for a child. Adult intensive care is not a copy of a parent's signature.

Article 19 leaves to the physician's judgment the withholding of a diagnosis in some grave pictures. That judgment is not confused with a sentence that there is no note at all. If there is a note, the time of the note and the person it was addressed to are read. If there is no note, the absence does not by itself build a finding of fault. An absence that does not build that finding does not write a sum either. A sum that is not written does not take the place of the decision.

Visiting and privacy

Not being admitted at visiting time is not the same breach as concealment of medical information. The frame of privacy stands in the record on patient privacy. Where an application goes stands in the record on patient rights. Early discharge is not a short name for intensive-care information. If there is a discharge note, the note is not put in place of a visiting ban. A note that is not put there does not carry a statistic either.

If the patient, while conscious, signed whom they chose as the person to be addressed, that signature is the starting point. If the person who calls later is different from the signature, the difference may appear in the nursing note. If there is no note, the difference is not assumed. A difference that is not assumed is not written as a damages item. An item that is not written is not in this text either.

Spoken information and the discharge summary

A sentence said in the corridor and a copy of the discharge summary are not the same document. The discharge summary is the written form of the discharge plan. Spoken information is who was told the picture at that moment. If one was given and the other was not, they stand on separate lines. Separate lines are not merged into a single breach. A line that is not merged does not produce a sum.

The application should say which document is requested. If the requested document is not in the file, the absence is written separately. The absence does not, by itself, also rebut the assumption that the hospital kept every record. Rebuttal appears through a delivery minute or a refusal letter. Without a letter, a refusal is not treated as existing.

How the information record is read

A damages figure and a statistic are not written. The competent authority comes from the patient record and the application papers. The office address does not choose who will be given information.

The office in Çankaya does not choose the authority the file will go to.

Conclusion

The question in intensive care is not whether the relative sees every paper. It is whether it was written down whom the patient wanted informed, and the moment when consciousness was closed. Damages and a statistic are not in this text. The frame is on the health law page. The basis is Articles 18, 19, 20 and 24 of the Patient Rights Regulation.

Legislation

Frequently asked questions

Must the family learn everything in intensive care?

No. The starting point is that the patient themselves is informed. Informing someone else may be limited to the patient's written request. A damages figure and a statistic are not in this article.

Is refusing a visit the same as not giving information?

They are not the same thing. The visiting arrangement and who is told the medical situation are two separate lines. Because one is closed, the other is not treated as breached as well.

What is read if the discharge summary is not given to the relative?

The copy of the discharge summary in the discharge plan is separate from the daily spoken information given to an inpatient. A copy of the file is requested separately. This text states no sum.

Related reading

This article sits under one practice area. The neighbouring guides carry the detail that does not belong in this text.

Practice areas · Health law

Sources

AK

Author

Av. Ayşenur Konar

Lawyer on the Ankara Bar Association roll, founder of Konar Hukuk. This text is general information; a specific file is reviewed separately. Author profile · Editorial policy

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