Executive Secretary for the Advocacy for Medical Malpractice Victims, Lawyer Kwame Appiah, says patients have the right to attain information and their medical records from their hospitals.
“Normally, the hospital folder has been labelled ‘Property of the Hospital’ but the information inside is yours. If you want the information in the folder then write to the hospital and demand for copies. They are obliged to give you whatever information you need in the folder,” he stated.
According to him, the hospital may refuse to give patients their folders to take home as it contains medical histories “and gives the progression of your situation. If you regularly visit a particular hospital and the doctor who attends to you is not around, the next doctor can pick your folder, understand your condition after going through your history and care for you.”
Lawyer Kwame Appiah reiterated in an interview with Samuel Eshun on the Happy Morning Show, “These are grounds on which the hospital will not give your folder to you but I believe if you write to them they’ll give you the content of the folder in the form of a report.”
He charged patients to be vigilant and ask questions to understand processes and procedures at the hospital.
Millions of patients are harmed each year due to unsafe health care worldwide resulting in 2.6 million deaths annually in low-and middle-income countries alone. Most of these deaths are avoidable.
The personal, social and economic impact of patient harm leads to losses of trillions of US dollars worldwide. The World Health Organization is focusing global attention on the issue of patient safety and has launched a campaign in solidarity with patients on the very first World Patient Safety Day on 17 September, 2019.
