Abstract:

Patient rights are the entitlements that individuals who need to benefit from health services have just because they are human. These rights should be complied with during health service delivery. This study was conducted to evaluate the knowledge levels, attitudes, and the claim reasons of doctors working in Erzurum city center concerning patient rights and to offer solutions to the matter. A cross-sectional descriptive survey was done. All doctors working in Erzurum city center were included in the study. The participation rate was 82%. A questionnaire with sociodemographic questions and information questions about patients' rights was used as a data collection tool. The questionnaire was applied to doctors face-to-face. Physicians' knowledge scores on patient rights were reasonably high. However, it was observed that the knowledge levels were not reflected in attitudes and behaviors at the same rate. Only one-third of the participants had read the Patient Rights Regulation, and half of them had received training on the subject. Of the physicians, 76.6% (n=562) think that the concept of patient rights limits the rights of doctors, and 97.4% (n=714) claimed that there were unnecessary/inappropriate complaints to the patient-rights units. Of the physicians, 64.6% received complaints from patients and/or their relatives. The most common complaint reason was communication problems (21.3%, n=294). While the doctors providing health care, 8.3% were not smiling at their patients, 1.1% (n=8) were not paying attention to patient privacy, 20.5% (n=149) were not giving verbal information to patients, 7.3% (n=53) were not receiving written consent from patients before the medical intervention. Physicians must develop positive attitudes towards patient rights practices and internalize these rights. Education on patient rights should be included in the medical education curriculum in preclinical and clinical periods. Doctors should be informed about the changes and updates made in the regulation with in-service training. The factors that prevent the transformation of knowledge into attitudes and behaviors should be revealed in larger studies.

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