Abstract
This chapter looks at mediation in the Belgian health care sector. The right to mediation in the health care context is one of the main innovations brought about by the Belgian Act of August 22, 2002, on Patients’ Rights: More specifically, this Act states that a patient is entitled to lodge a complaint with a competent mediation service for any issue pertaining to the violation of his or her rights as a patient.
As mediation was, and still is, fairly new to the health care sector, it has given rise to many questions among legal practitioners and health professionals. Even though the Act has been in force for 10 years now and, along with its royal decrees up to that date, has since been amended and completed, several important questions still remain unanswered.
This chapter is intended as a descriptive and analytic commentary of the regulations on mediation in the Belgian health care system. With each legal provision that is examined, the corresponding questions that arise in the practical experience of mediators, legal practitioners, and health professionals will be highlighted. Three specific issues will be considered in depth: the personal scope of application of mediation, the material scope of application of mediation, and the conditions pertaining to the independence of mediators.
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References
Vanormelingen P. Annual Report on Patients’ Complaints at Saint Luc University Hospital “Hospital Mediator’s Report”; 2005. p. 5.
Dijkhoffz W. Annual Report 2004 of the Federal Mediation Service for “Patients’ Rights”, Dutch-speaking mediator; 2005. p. 40–1.
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Derèse MN. La médiation dans le domaine des soins de santé: la notion de plaignant, l’indépendance et la formation du médiateur – situation en droits belge, néerlandais et français. In: Schamps G, editor. Evolution des droits du patient, indemnisation sans faute des dommages liés aux soins de santé: le droit médical en mouvement. Brussels: Bruylant; 2008. numbers 58–59.
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Further Reading
Annual reports of the federal mediation service from 2004 to 2011, available on the website https://portal.health.fgov.be
Derèse MN. La médiation dans le domaine des soins de santé: la notion de plaignant, l’indépendance et la formation du médiateur – situation en droits belge, néerlandais et français. In: Schamps G, editor. Evolution des droits du patient, indemnisation sans faute des dommages liés aux soins de santé: le droit médical en mouvement. Brussels: Bruylant; 2008. p. 299–362.
Derèse, M.N. La médiation dans les soins de santé: enjeux et perspectives. Brussels: Kluwer; 2013. 800 p. (Ph.D. thesis), forthcoming.
Opinions given by the Federal Commission on Patients’ Rights, available on the website https://portal.health.fgov.be
Vanormelingen P. La médiation des plaintes en milieu hospitalier. Expérience de la médiation locale. In: Schamps G, editor. Evolution des droits du patient, indemnisation sans faute des dommages liés aux soins de santé: le droit médical en mouvement. Brussels: Bruylant; 2008. p. 251–7.
Verhaegen MN. La gestion de plaintes de patients auprès des services de médiation. Selon la loi relative aux droits du patient. In: Schamps G, editor. Evolution des droits du patient, indemnisation sans faute des dommages liés aux soins de santé: le droit médical en mouvement. Brussels: Bruylant; 2008. p. 259–97.
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Derèse, MN. (2013). Regulations on Mediation in the Belgian Health Care System. In: Beran, R. (eds) Legal and Forensic Medicine. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-32338-6_70
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-32338-6_70
Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg
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