Scholarly record

SECURITY AND LEGAL SAFETY WHEN PROVIDING HEALTH CARE

O. Sovova

Abstract

In numerous international and national documents, the protection of human life is grounded with the utmost gravity and authority. An individual’s right for health is protected and prioritized in all modern national legal systems as a fundamental human right. The paper critically reviews the content of safety when providing health care. Security is of high value to society and individuals. Insuring safety and security entails providing stable institutional framework by which individual needs can be met. The paper points out the necessity of observing the issues of physical security and legal safety in connection with the due health care provision, called in the Czech case-law, medical and legal books as the health care provision lege artis. The paper highlights current issues, benefits and risks of legal demands for the safety and security of patients as well as the safety of medical professionals and providers. The paper critically reviews, using the methods of the interpretation of law, requirements for the appropriate legal regulation that should guarantee the right to personal and physical safety during the medical intervention, further treatment and throughout the whole relationship patient - medical professional and provider. The paper points out the interconnection of safety and security of health care in relation to the dual loyalty of helping professions. The paper underlines the issues of dual loyalty in medical care, based on the demands of labour law. The paper concludes that for ensuring the right to health, it is necessary to identify the scope of individual’s subjective right to participate in the health care and reinforce the responsibility for deciding on one’s health. The paper suggests that the methodology of new governance could be the basis for solving the issues of the covered topic.

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