Some hospitals make patients bring cutlery. RPO intervenes on hospital standards

Should a patient in the hospital bring his own cutlery? According to signals received by the Ombudsman's Office, some hospitals indicate that it is necessary to bring cutlery for hospitalization; according to others, it is not necessary. Such inconsistency in the approach to such a basic issue prompted the RPO to intervene.

In a statement to the Health Ministry's Treatment Department, BRPO Administrative and Economic Law Team Director Piotr Mierzejewski asks for a position. He stresses that according to Article 5(38) of the Law on Publicly Funded Health Care Services, food in the hospital - adequate to the patient's condition - is an accompanying service within the framework of inpatient and round-the-clock health care services.

"The effectiveness of treatment of patients in hospitals is determined not only by the properly conducted therapeutic process, but also by proper nutrition," the RPO's office points out. Ensuring that meals can be eaten in conditions befitting the dignity of the patient, including the use of proper cutlery, should be an obvious standard in every treatment facility.

The Ombudsman notes that this issue cannot be left to the discretionary interpretation of hospitals. After all, failure to provide cutlery can lead to situations that violate patient rights and reduce the quality of care. Therefore, it is necessary to have a clear position of the Ministry of Health on this issue - whether the obligation to provide cutlery lies with the hospital, and what are the applicable standards in this regard.

Source: RPO