Lisnevska Nataliia
Chairman of the Supervisory Board of the Foundation
27.10.2021
There are more and more cases when medical workers in the course of their professional duties are exposed to insults from patients who behave brazenly and rudely, use obscene language, etc. What to do in such cases? How to exercise your rights to protection of honor and dignity?
Legal regulation
One of the most important moral needs of man and citizen is the need to recognize the social significance, the importance of the individual. That is why honor and dignity, along with human life and health, according to Article 3 of the Constitution of Ukraine are recognized as the highest social value, and Article 68 of the Constitution of Ukraine provides for the obligation of everyone to abide by the Constitution and laws of Ukraine, not to encroach on rights and freedoms, honor and dignity of other people. Along with Articles 3 and 68 of the Constitution of Ukraine, Article 28 of the Basic Law of Ukraine states that no one may be subjected to treatment that degrades his or her dignity.
Most attention is paid to the protection of the honor and dignity of the person in civil law. It is the civil legislation that defines the legal concept of honor and dignity (Articles 207, 270, 297 of the Civil Code of Ukraine), as well as the methods of their protection (Article 23, Part 3 and Article 297 of the Civil Code of Ukraine). But, unfortunately, without specifying the ways to protect the honor and dignity of the individual, citizen and professional.
The most commonly used ways to protect honor and dignity are:
- general: 1) compensation for property damage;2) compensation for non-pecuniary damage;
- special: 1) refutation;2) the right to reply;3) judicial prohibition of further violation of honor, dignity and business reputation;4) recognition of information as untrue, in a separate proceeding.
Unfortunately, in the current administrative tort law, no provision provides adequate protection of honor and dignity. The actions of a “boor” who insults and humiliates a doctor can be classified as hooliganism.
Algorithm for solving the problem
If the medical worker was insulted by the patient during the performance of his/her professional duties, we recommend using the following algorithm of actions:
- To call as many witnesses as possible to your office. Witnesses can be security guards, colleagues, support staff, and other patients. The latter is especially important, because although any citizen can become a witness, the court may not take into account the opinion of every witness. Very often judges say that some witnesses are interested persons (this category, in particular, may include employees of a medical organization). But other patients in the queue cannot be interested persons by definition, so it is important to call them to the office.
- Make a dictaphone recording of what is happening.When an offense (such as insult) is committed against a doctor, it is quite legitimate to use a dictaphone.However, it should be used openly, without concealing the fact of recording from the patient (this is necessary so that the court has no reason to reject the request to attach a dictaphone recording to the case file as inadmissible evidence, that is, evidence obtained in violation of the law).You should get a dictaphone and, when you turn it on, say something like, “I, a doctor like that, record a conversation with a patient like that in order to protect my rights while committing an offense against me and gather relevant evidence.”Such a record may well be attached as appropriate and admissible evidence and have force in court.In turn, judges usually satisfy a request to attach such records to the case.
- It is also necessary to call law enforcement officials, that is, to call the police. Often during court hearings, the judge asks the question: “Did you contact the police?”. It does not matter whether the police come to the call – the very fact of appealing and reporting to the police will be recorded, which is important during the trial. When submitting an oral application, the person receiving the application must say the following: “I, a doctor like that, in connection with the fact of insulting me during the performance of my professional duties, I want to make a statement about bringing a patient who insulted me to liability under the Administrative Code of Ukraine.”
- It is necessary to make an appropriate entry in the medical records (direct source of evidence in court) and inform in writing about the incident to his or her chief.
- You should seek medical help from your colleagues in order to possibly diagnose negative symptoms and temporary disability (for example, high blood pressure, tachycardia, dizziness, sudden weakness, etc.). This will be needed to prove that you have caused moral and physical suffering (which is considered non-pecuniary damage by law) if you plan to prosecute the patient.
