Awareness Level on Rights of Patients in Hospitals

ABSTRACT Under the direction of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW), India's National Human Rights Commission drafted a Charter of Patient's Rights in August 2018 with various objectives like providing a reference for State Governments to enact or modify existing regulation, providing a framework of healthcare standards for service providers and raising the awareness among patients about their rights. Following the recommendation by the National Council of Clinical Establishments, MoHFW submitted the draft in the public domain for comments and suggestions. In this context, the researchers attempted to understand the awareness level on rights of the patients in hospitals. Objective of the study is to study the awareness level with regard to rights of patients in hospitals. Primary data was collected from 150 respondents identified by Convenience Sampling technique representing rural area of Thanjavore District using structured questionnaire. The data was processed and analysed using SPSS package Version 11 and statistical tool Factor analysis was used for discussion. The study results revealed that the respondents are aware of their rights as patients except the treatment of unpaid bills by the hospitals. The study concludes that irrespective of awareness level on rights of the patients, it the responsibility of the hospitals to be ethical and socially responsible. Key words : Awareness, Rights, Patients, Healthcare, Charter.