1.08 Roles in the healthcare system
The patient's role
In the event of any symptoms or other suspicion of disease the patient is personally responsible for seeking medical advice to get a diagnosis. The patient should pay attention to own health and regularly consult a doctor to have general health checks performed. It is positive that more and more patients today seek information on prevention, diseases and therapies – e.g. on the Internet. It is therefore important that the patients' access to all unbiased, factual and authoritative information about prevention, diseases and therapeutic options is strengthened and facilitated.
When the patient has been diagnosed and started treatment, the patient him/herself is responsible for following the correct treatment, including medication. If any doubt arises about the treatment, the patient should seek factual information and medical advice. The patient should not stop the treatment without prior consultation with his or her doctor. Untoward events and adverse reactions to the medicine should immediately be notified to the doctor.
The doctor's role
The doctor is, based on his or her professional competencies and talks with the patient, responsible for making a diagnosis. Thus, doctors play - through their medical competencies and direct contact with the patients - a key role in the health service. The doctor shall also be responsible for ensuring that from a medical viewpoint the patient is always offered optimal treatment. The doctor is therefore obliged, on an ongoing basis, to seek new knowledge about prevention, diseases and treatments.
It is important that the doctor's free right of prescription is not limited, neither directly nor indirectly. Such limitations would adversely affect medico-professional considerations and the possibility to adapt the treatment to the individual needs of the patients. Thus, a restricted free right of prescription may have a negative impact on patient treatment.
Today, the health service has implemented initiatives aimed at regulating the doctor's choice of treatment, through for instance the individual reimbursement system and through regional and national recommendation lists. In general, the health service should use such regulating initiatives with great caution and regularly assess whether their use has a negative impact on patient treatment.
It is the doctor's responsibility to give the patient information about prevention, the relevant disease, treatment and any side effects. It is important that the doctor involves the patient in his or her treatment, and that the two parties have a real dialogue so that the patient's knowledge and experience will also be included in the planning of the treatment.
The pharmacy's role
The pharmacy is the distributor of medicines. Thus, the pharmacy is responsible for dispensing prescription drugs to patients. Besides, the pharmacy has an information responsibility supplementing the information given by the doctor. The pharmacy gives the patient information about the drug, its correct use and any side effects. In case of substitution between products, the pharmacy has a particular information responsibility to the patient.
It is absolutely crucial that the pharmacies' dispensing of medicines as well as the information imparted by the pharmacy are completely fair and independent of own financial interests. Therefore, in the pharmacy sector no financial incentive models - such as the extensive use of discounts - should exist which may question the pharmacies' professionalism and financial independence.
Lif believes:
- that the patients themselves are responsible for seeking medical advice in the event of suspicion of disease and responsible for following the doctor's directions with respect to treatment,
- that patients should have clear and easy access to all relevant specialist information on prevention, diseases and treatments,
- that the doctor's free right of prescription should not be restricted – neither directly nor indirectly,
- that the doctor shall involve the patient in a real dialogue, so that knowledge, experience and expectations can be adapted,
- that financial incentive models raising doubts about the independence of pharmacies - such as discounts - must be abolished.
|
Print
