Patient advocacy groups are calling on the governing coalition to significantly expand patient rights and support in cases of medical errors.
Speaking on the ‘World Patient Safety Day,’ Eugen Brysch, board member of the Patient Protection Foundation, voiced concerns to the Redaktionsnetzwerk Deutschland, stating that patient rights appear to be absent from the current wave of reforms. He urged Federal Minister of Health Nina Warken to prioritize these rights on the political agenda.
Specific demands raised include the establishment of a hardship fund and eased evidentiary burdens for patients. Brysch criticized the coalition’s lack of action regarding the hardship fund, highlighting that it has been requested for over two decades. He argued that current free-of-charge assessments of suspected medical errors by health insurers and medical associations often fail to prevent protracted legal battles for injured patients and that a hardship fund would address this deficiency.
The proposed fund would provide financial assistance when a medical error is confirmed by assessments from insurers or medical associations but the responsible healthcare providers are unwilling to provide compensation. Affected patients would retain funds received in the event of a legal defeat, while any compensation awarded after a successful lawsuit would require repayment to the hardship fund – a process requiring a specific legal framework, according to Brysch.
Furthermore, the patient advocate is demanding eased evidentiary burdens for patients. He argued that a general reversal of the burden of proof in favor of patients is overdue, noting that such a measure already exists for egregious medical errors. Currently, patients are required to prove the error, despite the relevant documentation typically residing with hospitals and physicians. This, he argues, results in lengthy and highly stressful procedures for those affected.
