Patient Rights & Responsibilities

Our approach to patient rights

Case is committed to respecting the principles in Uganda’s Ministry of Health Patient Rights and Responsibilities Charter and to providing care in a way that respects dignity, privacy, informed decision-making, patient safety and accountability. Rights can be affected by emergency circumstances, public-health law, safeguarding duties and other legal exceptions, but those exceptions should be applied only where appropriate.

Case Hospital Patient Charter

The following rights reflect the Case Hospital Patients’ Charter used in patient information materials.

1. The right to health care and access to care in hospital.
2. The right to respect for your culture, spiritual beliefs and personal preferences.
3. The right to complain.
4. The right to confidentiality and privacy.
5. Protection from discrimination.
6. The right to participate in decision making.
7. The right to a healthy and safe environment.
8. The right to appropriate health care.
9. The right to be attended to by an identified service practitioner.
10. The right to safety and security.
11. The right to receive visitors, subject to hospital policies and clinical needs.
12. The right to informed consent.
13. The right to refuse treatment, subject to applicable law and emergency circumstances.
14. The right to be referred for a second opinion.
15. The right to medical information about medical services, including information about custody and retention of medical records.
16. The right to feedback and redress.
17. The right to discharge and, where applicable, to receive the body of a deceased patient in accordance with hospital procedures.
18. The right to choose medicine and care, within the options that are clinically appropriate and available.
19. The right to transparency in charged fee rates.

Respectful and non-discriminatory care

You should be treated with dignity and respect and without unfair discrimination. You should be able to communicate concerns about your care without fear that a good-faith complaint will be used to deny appropriate treatment.

Information about your care

You should receive information about your health, proposed investigations and treatment in language that is reasonably understandable to you. This includes relevant benefits, material risks, alternatives, expected follow-up and, where available, information about fees or likely charges. Ask questions whenever information is unclear.

Participation, consent and refusal

You have the right to participate in decisions about your care and to give informed consent before treatment where consent is required. Subject to applicable law and circumstances where care may lawfully be provided without ordinary consent, you may refuse an investigation or treatment after the implications have been explained to you.

Privacy and confidentiality

Your health information should be treated confidentially and disclosed only where appropriate for your care, where you have authorised disclosure, or where disclosure is otherwise permitted or required by law. You may ask how your information is handled under our Privacy & Data Protection Notice.

Information and medical records

You may request information concerning your health and access to medical records in accordance with applicable law, professional duties and Case’s records-access process. Some information may require identity verification or may be subject to lawful limitations designed to protect another person’s rights or safety.

Continuity, referral and discharge

Where appropriate, you should receive information about referral, follow-up, discharge, medicines, warning signs and other steps needed to continue your care safely. If another facility or clinician will take over part of your care, relevant information should be transferred appropriately and lawfully.

Your responsibilities as a patient

Safe care works best when patients, families and the care team share information clearly and respect the hospital environment.

Questions, feedback and redress

If you believe a patient right has not been respected, speak to a member of your care team or use the Complaints & Feedback process. For an immediate patient-safety concern, tell a nurse, doctor or facility manager immediately rather than waiting for a formal complaint response.