Abstrakt
Communication plays a crucial role in the support of quality of relationship and mutual trust between a health care provider and a patient. It also implements one of the essential rights of the patient under Article 10 of the Convention on Human Rights and Biomedicine.
Meaningful communication requires that the patient be effectively informed not only about successes, but also adverse development or errors, bearing in mind that even modern medicine is unable to eliminate them completely. A health care provider that admits an error early, provides an apology and suggests available options to remedy it, or at least offers some compensation, may be able to keep the patient's trust and avoid a lawsuit.
It is however questionable whether the law sufficiently motivates the care provider to do so. The perspective of minimization of compensation is unreliable and any admission of responsibility or an apology may be subsequently utilised by the patient or their relatives in judicial proceedings in order to prove the elements of liability of the health care provider and obtain monetary damages.
This article discusses whether some rules or principles of either substantive or procedural nature should be introduced in order to offer better incentives for the care provider to timely and efficiently admit an error and make an apology to the patient. It contributes to the international debate about a topic affecting all countries in rhe world that seek to ensure good health care for rheir population.