If this is not possible, your treatment should be funded at the time and at the hospital of your choice. You can find out what to expect from your local hospital on the CQC website.
You can also give feedback about the standard of care you received - but the CQC cannot deal with individual complaints. If something goes wrong during your treatment which leads to significant physical or psychological harm or death, the NHS provider must do the following:. Most hospitals have visiting hours during which visits to patients can be made. A person has no automatic right to visit you, and your doctor may decide that visits would be detrimental to your health.
There is usually also a limit to the number of people who can visit at any one time. The restrictions on visits from children are the same as those for other visitors. If someone wishes to visit you outside visiting hours, they should discuss this with the ward sister.
If they cannot get permission from the ward sister, they should contact the hospital administrator if they wish to pursue the matter. For more information, see Extra help if you're on benefits or your benefits have stopped.
Action for Sick Children may be able to advise on all these issues. It also produces a leaflet for parents whose child is going into hospital for the first time. The address is:. If your child is in an adult ward, you may wish to complain. For information on making a complaint, see NHS and local authority social services complaints. Hospitals should also allow parents to be with their children as much as possible.
This could include allowing you to stay overnight at the hospital. You should make enquiries before your child goes into hospital about what arrangements can be made. If you are finding it difficult to visit a child in hospital, for example, if you have other children at home, you may wish to discuss this with the medical social worker at the hospital.
You do not have the right to be cared for in a single sex ward. However, , all NHS hospitals are expected to get rid of mixed-sex wards, except where it is in your best interests or because you have chosen to be in a mixed-sex ward. For example, it might be in your best interests to be treated in a mixed-sex ward in a life-threatening emergency.
A hospital can be fined for each day that you have to stay in a mixed-sex ward if there is no good reason why you have to be there. An NHS Trust may be responsible for the funeral arrangements if there are no relatives or the relatives are unable to afford the cost and do not qualify for a funeral payment from the social fund. Find out about help with funeral payments on GOV. You should be allowed to use your mobile phone in an NHS hospital.
This includes using your phone on a ward, as long as it's not a risk to your safety or that of other patients and doesn't affect the operation of electronically sensitive medical equipment. All NHS trusts should have a written policy on the use of mobile phones which you can ask your hospital to see. There should be signs up in all hospital areas which say clearly whether you can use a mobile phone there or not. However, there are charges for the emergency examination and treatment of people involved in road accidents.
There are also charges for certain services, for example, beds with more privacy and alternative menus, patients' telephones and televisions. For information about charges for overseas visitors, see NHS charges for people from abroad. For information about charges for people involved in road accidents, see Traffic accidents.
There are some treatments used for certain illnesses, for example, cancer, which are very expensive and are not available on the NHS. You can choose to pay for these treatments yourself without this affecting your other NHS care. This means that NHS care should not be withdrawn if you buy additional care privately.
If you're getting certain social security benefits, your entitlement may be affected if you go into hospital. If you are on a low income, you may be able to get help with travel costs to hospital and with the cost of prescriptions, wigs and fabric supports. For more information about help with NHS costs, see Help with health costs.
You should not be discharged from hospital until your care needs are assessed and arrangements made to ensure that you will receive any necessary services when you are discharged. Any assessment should take into account your wishes, the wishes of your family and of any carer.
You should be kept fully informed and involved, be given sufficient time to make decisions, and be told how to seek a review of any decisions made.
You can ask for a reassessment of your needs if circumstances change in the future. You may not be satisfied with arrangements for your discharge from hospital because, for example:. Before discharge takes place, you, or your family, carer or representative, have the right to ask for a review of the decision which has been made about your eligibility for continuing NHS care.
In England, you can also ask for a review after discharge. If you are not satisfied with arrangements that have been made for you after you have been discharged, you can complain. If you are not satisfied with any medical services you are receiving from the NHS, you should use the NHS complaints procedure. If you are not satisfied with community care services which have been arranged or provided by the local authority, you should complain to the local authority using its complaints procedure.
For information on making a complaint to the local authority, see Dealing with complaints about adult social care - where to start. For information on making a complaint, see Complaints about NHS hospitals. In some cases, it is good practice to ask you, the patient, to sign a consent form, but in other cases consent can be obtained orally.
For example, it is good practice to obtain written consent for any procedure or treatment carrying substantial risk or side effects. If you are capable, it is good practice to obtain written consent for general anaesthesia, surgery and certain forms of drug therapy.
Even if you sign a consent form, the signature may not be a valid form of consent if you have not been given appropriate information to be able to give informed consent. Similarly, consent for one procedure does not imply consent for a further procedure or form of treatment.
The doctor must inform you of the nature, consequences, and any substantial risks involved in the treatment or operation, before you give your consent. It is for the doctor to decide exactly how much to tell you, the patient. There may be situations where you lack capacity to consent to treatment. A person lacks capacity if their brain or mind is impaired and they do not have the ability to use and understand information to make a decision at the time.
Examples could include dementia, brain damage, or intoxication through drugs or alcohol misuse. A capacity assessment should be carried out by a health professional. If it is felt that you do not have capacity, they will need to carefully consider what is in your best interests before making a decision. Young people aged 16 or over but under 18 can give independent consent to their own treatment. It is not necessary to obtain the consent of a parent or guardian.
A young person can be overruled by a court order. Children under 16 can give their own consent to treatment provided they are judged capable by a doctor, Clinical Commissioning Group CCG or NHS Trust, of understanding what is involved. There is no general test for assessing this capacity, and each case will be decided on its own merits. If a child under 16 does not have sufficient understanding, parental consent or a court order will be required for any treatment, except in an emergency.
Young people or children under 18 cannot give their own consent to experimental operations and blood donations, unless they have sufficient understanding of what is involved. In general, if a doctor wishes to carry out research on you, your consent has to be given. However, if a child under 16 is not competent to decide, a parent or court can consent to research on their behalf. You should be given a full explanation of the procedures and risks involved. It should also be made clear to the patient that you can withdraw from the research at any time.
Appropriate safeguards should always be in place to protect patient confidentiality. It is possible to carry out research on people who are not able to make decisions for themselves — that is, people who lack mental capacity.
Certain safeguards have to be met first. For more information about mental capacity, see Managing affairs for someone else. You have the right to refuse to participate in teaching without your treatment being affected. If you do not want to be involved in teaching, it is advisable to inform the hospital in advance.
You can refuse any treatment if you wish but see under heading Consent. When you visit a doctor, this usually implies consent to examination and treatment. The doctor cannot act against specific instructions, so you should tell the doctor about any treatment you do not want. If there are a number of alternative treatments which can be used to treat your condition, you should be given information on these. However, you cannot insist on a particular treatment if the doctor or consultant thinks this is not appropriate.
Forcing treatment on you against your will is assault. Your local HealthWatch, local independent advocacy service or hospital-based PALS service may be able to help you take the complaint further. You may also wish to involve the police. If you, a guardian or child refuse to give consent for treatment which a doctor thinks is necessary, the doctor is still obliged to treat the child. The action the doctor takes will depend on how urgently the treatment is needed.
If you or a guardian either fail to provide medical help for a child, or unreasonably refuse to allow treatment, you can be prosecuted for neglect. The law concerning whether a person has the right to die is unclear. You have a right to refuse or stop treatment at any time, even if this means that you may die.
However, it is normally illegal for a doctor to omit or carry out treatment with the specific intention of inducing or hastening death. If you believe you may become so ill that you could no longer make the decision about treatment, you should tell the doctor beforehand at what stage you would want treatment to stop.
In some cases, if you are unconscious or have very little consciousness, a doctor can stop some life support treatment if there is no chance of you getting better, or if it's not in your best interests. However, only a court can give a permission for this to happen. If you are concerned about being treated against your wishes, you should ensure you make this clear at the time the treatment is proposed. Unless you have said you do not want parts of your body used for research or donated to others after your death, whoever is legally responsible for the body can allow organs to be donated.
This will usually be your personal representative. Before organs can be removed from the body, medical staff must be certain that brain death has taken place, and a death certificate must be issued. Check if the GP practice or hospital has a poster or leaflet explaining how to access your records. You can see your records for free.
You might have to pay if you ask for the same information more than once. You usually have a right, to see a medical report written for your employer, potential employer or insurer. The report needs to be by a medical practitioner who's been involved in your care - like your GP or consultant.
You can find out how to access your data on the Information Commissioner's Office website. People who store information about your medical history should keep it confidential. They should ask you before they give the information to anyone else, like a relative - this is called asking for your consent. They don't have to ask you first if:. Direct payments could be used, for example, to pay for a carer, to buy medical equipment to use at home, or to pay for counselling. A patient does not have to have direct payments if they don't want to, but some patients may want them, especially patients with a complex long-term condition.
Before making a payment, the CCG must draw up a care plan with the patient setting out what the money can be used for and the money must not then be used for anything not included in the plan. In addition, the money cannot be used for GP services, including diagnostic tests, or for emergency treatment.
A patient who receives direct payments can either manage the money themselves or their representative can manage the money on their behalf. It is also possible for both patients or representatives to nominate someone else to manage the payments. If you want to be treated by the new consultant, this will need to be arranged with the new consultant and their hospital.
How to seek a second opinion. Do you need a second opinion? Second opinion from a different consultant If you would like a second opinion after seeing a consultant team you should discuss this with them. Was this page helpful? Hide this section. Show accessibility tools. Text Size:. Comments, Concerns and Compliments.
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Patient reminder service. Although you do not have a legal right to a second opinion, a healthcare professional will rarely refuse to refer you for one. Page last reviewed: 21 October Next review due: 21 October Do I need a GP referral for private treatment? Further information: Can I choose where to receive treatment? Can I demand a specific treatment? If I pay for private hospital treatment, how will my NHS care be affected?
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