Abstract
The area of the right to the provision of medical care is currently receiving attention mainly from the perspective of the patient, but not from the perspective of a healthcare professional. The right of a healthcare professional not to provide medical care is an area which, despite its importance, receives relatively little attention.
The topic of this article is narrowed down only to the area of termination of medical care. This leaves aside the legal regulation of the reasons for which the medical care provider is entitled to refuse to accept a patient into care.
The primary goal of this article was to verify the functionality of the legal regulation from the point of view of health professionals. This was done by research, carried out in the form of a questionnaire survey.
Respondents (healthcare professionals and medical students) answered questions (in the area of termination of medical care) to ascertain their awareness of the current legislation and its applicability in practice, as well as questions about possible changes that could improve their professional relationship with patient. The answers thus reflect not only their opinion on the state of the current legislation, but also include de lege ferenda considerations.
Before the main part of the article, which consists of the results of questionnaire survey, a theoretical introduction was included for better orientation in the issue. This theoretical introduction summarizes the current legislation in this area.
The article provides a new insight into the legal regulation of the termination of medical care through the eyes of those who are confronted with this legal regulation on a daily basis.