Rights and Entitlements – Slovak legislation

Rights and entitlements of insured persons under the Slovak law

• the right to receive healthcare in accordance with the principle of equal treatment in healthcare. Under the principle of equal treatment, discrimination on grounds of gender, religion or beliefs, marital or family status, skin colour, language, political or other views, trade union activity, national or social origin, disability, age, property, lineage or other status is prohibited,
• the right to receive healthcare in accordance with ethical/moral standards. No one can abuse these rights to cause harm to another person. A person must not be persecuted or otherwise penalised for filing a complaint, motion or criminal complaint against another person, health professional or healthcare provider,
• the right to choose a healthcare provider,
• the right to protection of his/her dignity, respect for his/her bodily integrity and mental integrity,
• the right to information on state of health,
• the right to information on the purpose, character, consequence and risks of providing healthcare, on the possibility to choose proposed procedures and the risks of refusing healthcare (informed consent),
• the right to refuse the provision of healthcare except for in cases when healthcare can be provided without informed consent,
• the right to decide on participation in teaching or biomedical research,
• the right to refuse taking and transplantation of organs, tissues and cells after death,
• the confidentiality right to be maintained about any matters affecting his/her state of health or matters connected with his/her health,
• the right to relief from pain,
• the right to humane, ethical approach by health professionals that respects his/her dignity,
• the right to refuse an autopsy,
• the right to information on the price of provided healthcare and to receive a written statement/document on the amount paid by a person for the provision of healthcare and a written statement/document on the amount paid for the provision of services related to the provision of healthcare.

Information and informed consent for treatment

Healthcare can be provided to patient only with his/her informed consent.

Patients’ rights in relation to medical records

• proper management of all records in accordance with applicable Slovak legislation,
• to be provided with information stated in their medical records relating to their state of health (information also to be provided to a legal representative),
• the right to consult medical records is also recognised for the husband or wife, child or parent or their legal representative after the death of a patient, for the whole of the records,
• to obtain copies of medical records,
• to authorise a representative to consult their medical records and make copies of it. Such an authorisation can also be granted by a patient’s legal representative.

All the above mentioned rights and entitlements under the Slovak law must be respected when providing cross-border healthcare to a patient/insured person from another Member State.