Patients' rights : the lay perspective

Abstract

The doctor-patient relationship was historically based on trust
 rather than on monetary considerations. The family doctor, or the
 village doctor was a friend, a counsellor, a person of authority, a
 person to be honoured. The Welfare State brought about with it
 the socialisation of medical attention, and the right to proper
 medical care is nowadays recognised as part and parcel of the
 most fundamental human rights. The State which has the widest
 resources at its disposal and which is funded by the people's taxes
 has the obligation of providing the best kind of medical and health
 services, both therapeutic and preventive, that it possibly can. As
 a result, a consumerist mentality entered the medical field. The
 doctor became only one of the many and various social workers
 serving in dependence on, or in collaboration with insurance groups
 and social agencies and the patient became a consumer expecting
 high quality service. Health care is only one factor of the market
 economy.ln many countries, this has resulted. in the
 depersonalisation and in the dehumanisation of medical services.

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