Current legislation of Ukraine comprises a well-developed legal framework which ensures the observance of citizens’ rights to receive medical services for preserving their health. However, in medical practice, where a relationship between patients and medical professionals is established, misunderstandings emerge which may concern not the quality of medical services provided to the patient but rather the problem of information about the patient and his/her health status provided to another party. Minimization of these problems in many cases depends on the level of legal knowledge which the actors in this entire relationship process have, both with regard to provision of medical services and to compliance by all parties with requirements of statutory regulations which ensure the organization and implementation of certain tasks. An analysis of court decisions reveals the need to improve current legislation with regard to cases of inspection of medical institutions during which the issues of relationship between several subjects are covered, and especially in respect of providing information about the patient and maintaining his/her health status in secret.

Medical professionals and patients within the framework of their relationship are given appropriate statutory legal rights and obligations, but unfortunately, sometimes neither side tries to adhere to the fundamental rules and standards prescribed in the documents. Only in cases where serious consequences ensue after medical care or intervention, patients have to seek legal aid with the aim of obtaining a clarification of their rights with regard to doctors and compensation for harm caused by doctors, and the latter seek to determine the correctness of the actions they have done.

 Today, respect for the fundamental human right to secrecy and confidentiality of information about his/her health status is becoming increasingly important. Problems coming to the fore in the course of implementation of the rights and obligations of patients and medical professionals call for compliance with current legislative acts, and in some cases, require legislative regulation. In each particular case, a doctor or any other medical professional should clearly know the legislative rule based on which he/she provides medical information and discloses data covered by medical privacy. Most often, the basis for the provision of medical information is a request made in accordance with the procedure established by law.

The purpose of the article is to analyze current legislation and court decisions with regard to the grounds upon which parties to medical legal relations apply to court with the aim of resolving the issues of maintenance of medical privacy and provision of public information by medical institutions.

 It is established that there is a need to regulate the pieces of legislation which relate to inspections conducted by representatives of the Social Insurance Fund of Ukraine concerning the appropriateness of the grounds for issue of sick leaves to insured persons and their prolongation, including on the basis of information from the electronic register of sick leaves, and the corresponding actions of medical professionals (during the inspection) concerning the provision of information which is the patient’s confidential information.

It is proposed that changes be made in respect of permitting a check of medical documentation solely on the basis of a request submitted by an insured person (patient) and, as a consequence, that changes be made to the statutory activities of the Fund, and the Guidelines for conducting such inspections be clarified.

Bibliography

Authored books

1. Fulei T, Zastosuvannia praktyky Yevropeiskoho sudu z prav liudyny pry zdiisnenni pravosuddia: naukovo-metodychnyi posibnyk dlia suddiv [Application of the Practice of the European Court of Human Rights in the Administration of Justice: Scientific and Methodological Guide for Judges] (2015) (in Ukrainian).