Society demands logo for Patient’s Bill of Right in hospitals
The International Society of Media in Public Health (ISMPH) has called for a special logo that will tell the public that a hospital or healthcare facility observes the Patient’s Bills of Rights (PBoR).
Mrs Moji Makanjuola, the Executive Director of ISMPH, made the call in an interview with News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) yesterday in Abuja.
Makanjuola said this would help accelerate healthcare delivery services in the country.
She said beyond the launch and going into the full implementation of the bill, there should be a logo that signifies health facilities that observes patient’s bill of right.
“I am advocating that hospitals should be bold and proud enough to say that we observe Patient’s Bill of Right.
“The hospitals should have a logo which will tell the public that the facility observes PBoR; as a patient, I can have my treatment and can easily participate in my healthcare delivery.
“As patient, I can also ask questions and the providers will answer me because they observe PBoR,’’ she said.
She noted that having logos of patients right’s in health facilities would boost confidence of the patients and create more demand for health services.
Makanjuola therefore advocated for an aggressive advocacy for Nigerians to understand every aspect of the bill and the need for the full implementation of the PBoR.
She said the benefits of the bill have become a priority particularly for public health.
“I think that everyone has a responsibility here, just as the health practitioners have responsibility to adhere to the providers’ responsibilities, we as individuals also have our own responsibility which we need to adhere to.
“If these two can work together, then, we can have an improved demand for healthcare and people would want to go to hospitals where the PBoR exists,’’ she said.
She appealed to stakeholders to cascade the bill down to the states and local government levels to enable people at that level know about their rights from health facilities.