Who Protects the Rights of Doctors and Patients?

Center for Patient’s Rights within the Public Defender’s Office was established more than a year ago. Irma Manjavidze, an expert –in-chief for the center, considers the best solution of the situation is to inform doctors and patients about their rights. What are the main complaints of patients when they apply to the Patient’s Rights Center within the Public Defender’s Office? What is the situation regarding the patients’ rights in regions? Do doctors know their rights better than patients?-these are questions the Human Rights Center asked Irma Manjavidze.

Irma Manjavidze: We established our center based on those problems and complaints that were mentioned in the appeals of the people who applied to the Public Defender’s Office. Initially when the center was established, our beneficiaries were only patients.

Journalist:It is interesting if you receive appeals from regions?  

I. M. Of course, we receive appeals from the whole Georgia. However, to tell the truth, we have not differentiated them according to the regions. Citizens apply to the Public Defender’s Office and we must discuss them. Our center studies problems and then we decide how we can assist applicants; sometimes we give recommendations to the Public Defender. In the case of necessity, we apply to governmental bodies-ministries, Prosecutor’s Office and courts, to get information. Appeals contain various complaints. We have received many letters from disabled people because the criteria to declare a person disabled has changed. Consequently, they shortened the list of those diseases according to which disabled people received allowances.”

“It is clear that it is financial problem, but because of the situation many people who were disabled and needed assistance now are in obscure situation. The state concluded that several diseases can be cured and people who are declared disabled for hat illness can work. I think this question must be thoroughly considered.

J. It is also interesting if doctors apply to you to protect their rights?

I. M. Of course they do. Doctors also apply to us and they complain about media sources and relatives of their patients. You know, in one occasion a doctor was not charged yet but relatives of the patient were degrading the professionalism of the doctor with the support of various media sources. He broke the stereotype and decided to protect his rights. We investigated the situation and he turned out right.

J.How do you think, who knows their rights better-doctors or patients?

I. M. In fact patients know their rights better than doctors and it is proved by the survey we carried out in Tbilisi. Very often, doctors are treating patients or making operations without official confirmation of their patients. The doctors receive those confirmations after the patient is in the poorest conditions. In similar situations doctors make the relatives of the patients to write an official refusal on treatment in order to get rid of the dying patient. Consequently, patients have more chance to appeal against doctors. According to our surveys, most doctors think that they must know laws in Georgian Legislation that regulate medical service. Unfortunately, great number of doctors does not use those laws in practice.

J:What do you think is necessary to protect the rights of doctors as well as their patients? Or to be more exact, what can we do not to protect the rights of one side at the expense of the other?

I. M.  It is very good that the Ministry announced tender and they are going to establish professional associations which will discuss similar cases against doctors.  On the next stage three independent experts of the corresponding field will be put in charge of those cases and final conclusion will be prepared based on their assessments. Thus, the Ministry is not the only institution that must make decisions about doctors. Only one official could not have assessed the work of a particular doctor and estimate how professionally s/he acted in this or that situation.

Lela Khidasheli, Kutaisi