Some philosophical issues of the rights of patients

Abstract

Recent studies concerning the quality of general practice care in the Netherlands showed that both technical and interpersonal quality are important for patients (Jung, 1999). The idea is quite simple: if you want to know what is good care, ask the patients. As regards technical aspects, the most important for patients are: the feeling that the GP is competent, that the GP has good professional knowledge, that the GP diagnoses and treats illness well. The interpersonal aspects of general practice, considered most important for patients, were: the GP guarantees confidentiality of information about patients, takes enough time to listen, talk and explain things, understands what the patients wants from him or her, and tells patients everything they want to know about their illness (Jung, 1999).