Bill 201 — Second Session, 24Th Legislature, 46 Elizabeth Ii the Legisla Tive A Ssembly of A Lberta B Ill 201 A Lb Er Ta Pa Tien Ts ’ B Ill O F R Ig H Ts (Legislature 24, Session 2)

L24 S2 1004

Alberta — Bills

1998 BILL 201 Second Session, 24th Legislature, 46 Elizabeth II THE LEGISLA TIVE A SSEMBLY OF A LBERTA B ILL 201 A LB ER TA PA TIEN TS ’ B ILL O F R IG H TS MR. MITCHELL First Reading Second Reading Committee of the Whole Third Reading Royal A ssent

B ill 201 M r.

M itchell B ILL 201 1998 A LB ER TA PA TIEN TS ’ B ILL O F R IG H TS (A ssented to , 1998) P ream ble WHEREA S the Government of A lberta has a primary responsibility to promote and support excellent physical and mental health of all residents of the Province; WHEREA S an important element of excellent population health is the recognition that every A lbertan should have, as a fundamental right, access to universal, comprehensive health care; and WHEREA S the Legislature of A lberta, affirming that right and recognizing the need to ensure the protection of that right in matters coming within its legislative authority, desires to enact an A lberta Patients’ Bill of Rights; THEREFORE HER MA JESTY, by and with the advice and consent of the Legislative A ssembly of A lberta, enacts as follows: D efinitions 1 In this A ct, (a) “health professional” means a chiropractor, dental mechanic, dental surgeon, optician, optometrist, physician, podiatrist, nurse or other person who provides or assists in providing health services; (b) "health services” means basic health services or extended health services as defined in the A lberta H ealth C are Insurance A ct; (c) “patient” means a person receiving health services in A lberta. 1

P urposes of the A ct 2 The purposes of this A ct are (

a) to ensure that patients are aware of their right to receive appropriate and timely care; (

b) to ensure that patients are treated with dignity and respect; (

c) to promote and improve communication between patients and health professionals. H ealth care rights 3 It is hereby recognized and declared that patients are entitled to the following: (

a) the right to receive appropriate health services; (

b) the right to be treated by health professionals in a courteous and respectful manner and in a manner that respects the patient’s dignity and autonomy; (

c) the right to reasonable and timely access to appropriate health services; (

d) the right to receive health services without discrimination based on race, religious beliefs, colour, gender, physical disability, mental disability, age, ancestry, place of origin, marital status, source of income, family status or sexual orientation; (

e) the right to have one’s personal and health information protected from disclosure to any person unless the patient has consented to the disclosure; (

f) the right of access to one’s own health care records unless, in the opinion of a physician, chartered psychologist or psychiatrist, the disclosure could reasonably be expected to result in immediate and grave harm to the patient’s health or safety; (

g) the right to refuse consent to any proposed treatment; (

h) the right to receive information relating to any proposed treatment and to any treatment options as is necessary in order to decide whether or not to give consent. 2

D uties of M inister 4(1) The Minister of Health must ensure that adequate systems, standards and enforcement mechanisms exist to protect and enforce the rights of patients under this A ct.

(2) If the Minister fails to fulfill his duties under this section, that failure may form the subject matter of an application for judicial review seeking an order in the nature of mandamus if an originating notice is filed at the Court of Queen’s Bench and is served on the Minister.

(3) The Court may, in respect of an application under subsection (2), award (

a) party and party costs, (

b) solicitor and client costs, or (

c) any other costs it deems appropriate upon hearing the application. R egulations 5(1) In this section, “Standing Committee” means the Standing Committee of the Legislative A ssembly on Law and Regulations.

(2) The Lieutenant Governor in Council may make regulations generally, providing for any other matter considered necessary for the administration and operation of this A ct or to meet cases that may arise and for which no provision is made by this A ct.

(3) Where the Lieutenant Governor in Council proposes to make a regulation pursuant to this section, the Lieutenant Governor in Council shall forward a copy of the proposed regulation to the Standing Committee.

(4) On receipt by the Standing Committee of a copy of a proposed regulation pursuant to subsection (3), the Standing Committee shall examine the proposed regulation to ensure that (

a) it is consistent with the delegated authority provided in this A ct, (

b) it is necessarily incidental to the purposes of this A ct, and (

c) it is reasonable in terms of efficiently achieving the objectives of this A ct. 3

Coming into force Title: 1998 (24th, 2nd) Bill 201, Alberta Patients' Bill of Rights

(5) When the proposed regulation has been examined as required under subsection (4), the Standing Committee shall advise the Lieutenant Governor in Council that the proposed regulation has been so examined and shall indicate any matter referred to in subsection (4)(a), (

b) or (

c) to which, in the opinion of the Standing Committee, the attention of the Lieutenant Governor in Council should be drawn. 6 This Act comes into force on Proclamation. 4

Document details

Collection	Alberta — Bills
Citation	L24 S2 1004
Type	bill
Volume / chapter	L24 S2 1004
Language	en
Format	json
Source	PROVINCIAL
Identifier	d800287299ce95bc02388d2c4b4a22a09523cb7c

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