Patient Rights - Patient Responsibilities

A trusting relationship between patient, doctor and therapist is essential for successful care and treatment. For this reason, it is important for you, as a patient, to know your rights and responsibilities.

Patient rights determine the principles your doctors and therapists must follow in order to avoid harming you by means of the treatment.

In our guide «Patient Rights», you will find details on the following patient rights:

Where there are rights, there are responsibilities as well.

As a patient, you have the responsibility to actively participate in your treatment and, thus, to influence the achievement of the treatment goal. Even if these responsibilities are not enforceable, you should recognize them and implement them in the interest of your health.

In our guide «Patient Rights», you will find details on the following patient responsibilities, also known as duties:

Even though the quality of medical treatment in Switzerland is high, mistakes can occur both at the time of diagnosis as well as during treatment.
A treatment error is when a doctor violates the necessary diligence, therefore causing harm to the doctor’s patient.

Unfortunately, treatment errors can never be completely eliminated, but please note that a lack of treatment success does not equate to a treatment error.

Treatment errors include such things as incorrect diagnoses, incorrect medication, the incorrect implementation of an operation, and inadequate hygiene.

If you suspect a treatment error, please refer to our guide «Patient Rights» and the checklist «Medical Errors» for detailed information on how you can proceed: