I am a patient of ZOL. After 10 months of stay, my he alth deteriorated. I found out that my discharge was planned, the director of the institution informed me and offered to move to a social welfare home, to which I did not agree. As far as I know, patients whose he alth has improved are being discharged. To my question: why? I heard that I have to vacate the bed because they are sicker than I am, ie "lying", that the National He alth Fund "presses" to make excerpts, because there are a lot of bedridden patients in the ICU. I am not bedridden yet, because if I were, I could stay. I suffer from adrenomyeloneuropathy, a progressive disease of the central nervous system, I have spastic paresis of upper and lower clovers; the lower limbs are very intensified, I move with great difficulty and pain with the help of a walking frame, I cannot take my legs off the ground, spasticity also affects the abdomen and back and pain in these places, the disease leads to total paresis. Does ZOL have any legal grounds to "force" me to opt out? What are my rights in this regard and can I appeal?
The Care and Treatment Institution, pursuant to Article 29 of the Act on Medical Activity, may discharge the patient. ZOL is a stationary ward that provides round-the-clock care to people who do not require hospitalization, but whose he alth condition and degree of disability do not allow them to stay in their home environment. These are people with large deficits in self-care and nursing, who do not qualify for hospital treatment, but require inpatient nursing and rehabilitation services under the supervision of a doctor.
The stay in the establishment is either definite or permanent. The purpose of the stay is to improve he alth, prevent complications resulting from the disease process and immobilization, activate and improve motor skills, ensure safety and care.
Releasing the patient from the hospital or other medical entity (activities in the provision of 24-hour and in-patient he alth services), unless separate regulations provide otherwise, takes place: 1) if the patient's he alth condition does not require further provision of he alth services in a given entity; 2) at the request of the patient or his legal representative; 3) when the patient becomes blatantthe manner violates the order / disrupts the course of providing he alth services, and there is no fear that the refusal or discontinuation of the provision of these services may cause a direct threat to his life or he alth or the life or he alth of other people. It may happen that a patient believes that his or her he alth condition requires further provision of he alth services in a hospital or other enterprise of a medical entity performing therapeutic activities, such as 24-hour and in-patient he alth services. Then - in accordance with Art. 30 sec. 4 - the patient bears the costs of the stay, starting from the expiry of the period specified by the medical entity, regardless of the en titlement to free he alth services specified in separate regulations.
Legal basis: Act on medical activity (Journal of Laws of 2015, item 618).
Remember that our expert's answer is informative and will not replace a visit to the doctor.
Przemysław GogojewiczIndependent legal expert specializing in medical matters.
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