Safeer Deedat, Wijerathne Sanduni, Weerasekara Pumudu, Wickramasinghe Udari, Edirisinghe Sanidi, Hewavithana Anuki, Chandraratne Nadeeka, Jayasinghe Saroj
Faculty of Medicine, University of Colombo, Colombo, Sri Lanka.
Department of Community Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Colombo, Colombo, Sri Lanka.
BMC Med Ethics. 2025 May 28;26(1):69. doi: 10.1186/s12910-025-01232-2.
Patients' rights are integral to ensuring ethical and humane healthcare delivery. Understanding these rights helps promote patient-centered care and strengthens trust in healthcare systems. Although international frameworks outline patients' rights comprehensively, Sri Lanka lacks specific legislative recognition and public awareness on the topic. This study aims to explore perspectives on patients' rights in Sri Lanka and identify barriers and facilitators to their implementation.
A qualitative study was conducted at the National Hospital of Sri Lanka, involving individual interviews with twenty participants, including patients (n = 16) from diverse backgrounds and healthcare professionals (n = 4). The study used a generic qualitative inquiry using inductive thematic analysis. Open-ended interviews were transcribed, and key themes were identified based on participants' descriptions of their experiences.
The study identified several key themes regarding patient rights: access to information and informed consent, respect and dignity, and quality of care. Patients were generally satisfied with the amount of information received, although healthcare providers desired more patient involvement in decision-making. Both patients and healthcare professionals stressed the importance of treating patients with respect and dignity. However, patients showed a tendency to defer to the expertise of doctors, placing less emphasis on informed consent and their own autonomy. Patients also expressed a right to high-quality care but experienced some delays and inefficiencies.
This study reveals both strengths and weaknesses in the implementation of patient rights within the Sri Lankan healthcare setting. A lack of formal recognition of patient rights and a cultural tendency for patients to trust doctors' judgement over their own autonomy are key findings. This study highlights the need to improve patient empowerment and education to promote autonomy and shared decision making in their own care. Future studies should include larger, multi-center samples, to gain a more comprehensive understanding of patient rights in Sri Lanka. Importantly, this study advocates for national policy reform, including the development and adoption of an officially recognized Patient Rights Charter.
患者权利是确保提供符合伦理和人道的医疗服务不可或缺的一部分。了解这些权利有助于促进以患者为中心的医疗服务，并增强对医疗系统的信任。尽管国际框架全面概述了患者权利，但斯里兰卡缺乏对这一主题的具体立法认可和公众意识。本研究旨在探讨斯里兰卡对患者权利的看法，并确定其实施的障碍和促进因素。
在斯里兰卡国家医院进行了一项定性研究，对20名参与者进行了个人访谈，其中包括来自不同背景的患者（n = 16）和医疗专业人员（n = 4）。该研究采用了基于归纳主题分析的通用定性探究方法。对开放式访谈进行了转录，并根据参与者对其经历的描述确定了关键主题。
该研究确定了几个关于患者权利的关键主题：信息获取与知情同意、尊重与尊严以及医疗质量。患者总体上对所获得的信息量感到满意，尽管医疗服务提供者希望患者更多地参与决策。患者和医疗专业人员都强调了尊重和有尊严地对待患者的重要性。然而，患者表现出倾向于听从医生的专业意见，对知情同意和自身自主权的重视程度较低。患者还表达了获得高质量医疗服务的权利，但经历了一些延误和低效情况。
本研究揭示了斯里兰卡医疗环境中患者权利实施的优势和劣势。缺乏对患者权利的正式认可以及患者在文化上倾向于信任医生的判断而非自身自主权是主要发现。本研究强调需要增强患者权能和教育，以促进其在自身医疗护理中的自主权和共同决策。未来的研究应包括更大规模的多中心样本，以更全面地了解斯里兰卡的患者权利。重要的是，本研究倡导国家政策改革，包括制定和采用官方认可的《患者权利宪章》。
