Implications of Patients’ Rights Violations at the Hospital; a study of Winneba Government Hospital, Ghana

Abstract

Respecting patients’ dignity has been described as a fundamental part of nursing care. Many studies have focused on exploring the concept of patients’ dignity and satisfaction from the patient and nurse perspective, but knowledge is limited regarding nursing perceptions of the impediments they pose to patients’ satisfaction and experiences of the patients themselves. The main objective of the study was to explore the issue of patients’ rights and satisfaction from the perspective of patients.

The study used the descriptive survey technique and the sample size for the study was 700 respondents.  The study comprised all persons who were 15 years and above and were currently residing at Winneba in the central region of Ghana for the past two years and simple random techniques under probability sampling procedure was used in selecting respondents for the study. Questionnaire, observation and structured interview were the research instruments used to collect the data. All the respondents (100%) strongly agree and agree that patients’ rights violations has serious implications if not checked, and all the respondents (100%) strongly agree and agree that public education, awareness of human rights, improving the health facilities and resourcing health workers are required to deal with the practice in Ghana.

The study concluded that patients’ rights violations a social canker in various Ghanaian communities which clearly violates the protection of the fundamental human rights and has serious implications on Ghanaians.  The root cause of the abuses at the hospitals is the impoliteness and corruption on the part of health workers. The study recommended that the media and other bodies in Ghana should continue educate citizens and create human rights awareness among the entire populace particularly health workers to desist from violating human rights especially the rights of the sick. Hospitals apply all the safety and quality standards to Health as spelt out in the patients act. This is crucial to ensure patient safety and confidence in Health services.

Keywords: Patients right, health service, rights violations, abuses, human rights, patients satisfaction