Investigating the Level of Observing Patient Rights Charter in Montaserieh Hospital, Mashhad from the Perspective of the Transplant Patients

In recent years, tremendous progress has been made in organ transplantation; as a result, the legal issues associated with it have become more visible, too. Furthermore, transplant patients need more exact knowledge and observing patient rights is more crucial to them, considering their special condition. Therefore, the present study was conducted with the aim of investigating the level of observing Patient Rights Charter in Montaserieh Hospital, Mashhad in 2017 from the perspective of the transplant patients.

The current research is a descriptive cross-sectional study conducted on 99 liver and kidney transplant patients during the first 3 months of 2017 at Montaserieh Hospital, Mashhad. In order to investigate the level of observing Patient Rights Charter from the perspective of transplant patients, the researcher made a questionnaire consisting of 28 questions, based on the 5 dimensions of Patient Rights Charter in Iran. The data was analyzed using descriptive statistics in SPSS software version 16.

Ethical Considerations: 

Sufficient explanations regarding the objectives of the research were given to the subjects and data confidentiality was ensured.

The mean score of observing Patient Rights Charter was 100.05±20.24. From the perspective of the transplant patients, the second dimension (the right to receive sufficient information in a desirable manner), with the mean of 36.53±7.88 and the fifth dimension (the right to access an efficient complaint-handling system), with the mean of 5±3.70 were, respectively, the rights observed the most and the least.

Surveying the patients, it was found that the dimensions of patients’ right to have freedom of choice and making decisions around receiving healthcare services and the right to have access to an effective complaint-handling system have been observed less frequently than others. Therefore, it is recommended that healthcare centers provide patients with sufficient explanations regarding the treatment plan so that they can participate in choosing their treatment methods. In addition, certain guidelines should be developed to ensure access to an efficient complaint-handling system.