As a patient, you have the right to receive full (complete) information about your health, available health services in general, and the health care services that you receive (or will receive in future).
Any information that you receive should be provided to you in understandable terms.
Information about your state of health
Patients have the right to receive information about their state of health:
“the provider of health care services shall inform the patient of the results of the examination of the patient and the state of his or her health, any possible illnesses and the development thereof.”
Information about the treatment received
You have the right to know what medical treatment you may receive or have already received and what its results are, including previously unforeseen outcomes and the reasons thereof. You should also be given instructions and recommendations in relation to further treatment and social services, if necessary.
example Before the beginning of your treatment, the doctors should explain to you what is the procedure and what are its consequences (including potential side effects).
example You spent several days in a hospital. Upon discharge, you should be able to examine the documentation of the provided healthcare services on the Estonian e-health system.
You also have the right to find out more about the medical treatment you will receive in future.
Information about your doctors
You have the right to receive information about all medical professionals involved in your treatment, including their:
- name and surname
- position
- profession
- specialisation
- qualification, etc.
The healthcare provider must include the information in the health records.
Right to refuse information
You have a right to refuse information. If you do not want to know the details of your illness or the treatment that you received, you can inform your doctor about this in oral or written form.
example A patient has an incurable disease. The doctors can make an approximate prognosis about the patient’s life expectancy, but the patient does not want to know the result. In this case, doctors cannot share their prognosis against the patient’s will.
Access to medical documents (health data)
You also have the right to access your medical documents (medical data) – according to the Estonian Law of Obligations you have the right to examine the healthcare documentation about you. If you believe that your medical records are incorrect or inaccurate, you can request corrections or erasure.
Read more about your right to access your data, including your right to copy and your right to request corrections (data rectification) or erasure in this Guide.
Read more about your medical data in this Guide.