Your rights and obligations as a patient

As a patient, you have the right to understandable information about your disease, the examinations and the treatment options.

Based on this, you must be able to decide whether you want to undergo examinations and treatments and then give permission for this: your informed consent. Ultimately, it is you – not the doctor – who will undergo the examination or treatment.

In order to give your consent, it is important that you understand what an examination or treatment entails. Your care provider must therefore provide you with information in language that is understandable to you about:

• your illness or condition;
• the purpose and nature of any examination or proposed treatment;
• other treatment options;
• the consequences, possible complications and risks of the treatment or examination.

You can make the conversation with your counsellor go well by clearly indicating it yourself if you want to know more or do not understand something. If necessary, write down your questions at home and take them with you to the interview. Or discuss your questions with a family member or friend and bring them to the interview to assist or supplement you when needed.

You can also get written information on many topics, so you can read everything again at your leisure. Ask your doctor about this, or at the Patient Information Center in the central hall.

You have the right to inspect your medical and nursing records. You can contact your treating specialist for this.

If you come across factual inaccuracies in your file, you can ask your care provider to change them, add something to them or delete them.

On request, you can get a copy of all or part of your file for a very small fee.

You have the right to ask for a second opinion from another healthcare provider, for example if you have doubts about the diagnosis or the proposed treatment.

In the case of a second opinion, you ask for an opinion or advice from an expert other than your own healthcare provider. At your request, he or she will only give his or her opinion and will not take over the treatment.

Ask your health insurer whether the second opinion is reimbursed.

As a patient, you have the right to the protection of your personal data. The hospital has drawn up rules for the use of this data. Care providers must treat your data confidentially.

Only the people who need your data in the context of your treatment are aware of your situation. They are not allowed to pass on information to, for example, your partner, family or friends. This is only allowed with your permission. You can give this consent orally or in writing and must be documented in your status.

The Netherlands Cancer Institute provides anonymous data in the field of patient care to a number of registration systems, for the purpose of scientific research (e.g. cancer registration) and statistics.

Registration is important for gaining insight into the occurrence and treatment of cancer. If you wish, you can lodge an objection in writing through your doctor.

Scientific research is needed to gain knowledge and develop better treatment methods. This sometimes involves the use of medical data and/or body material. As part of your treatment, medical data is recorded in files.

It is also possible that body material (blood, urine, tissue) is taken from you to determine the nature of the condition.

Sometimes some of this material is kept after your diagnosis has been made. It is possible that this will one day be used for scientific research. Of course, legal safeguards for privacy will be observed.

The material is anonymized or provided with a code. In this way, the researcher cannot see who the body material came from. If the Netherlands Cancer Institute wants to conduct research with body material to which your name is linked, the researcher will ask you for permission.

Read more about permission for scientific research

If you object to the use of your medical data and/or body material for scientific research, you can report this to your attending physician.

He or she will make a note of this in your medical file, which excludes the use of your data and/or body material for scientific research.

You may find yourself in a situation where you can no longer decide for yourself. If you think it is important that - when it comes down to it - your wishes are acted upon, then it is wise to put these wishes in writing. In principle, a clear statement is respected.

For example, you can record in your advance directive the circumstances under which you no longer want to be resuscitated. This statement must be provided with a recent date and your own signature, otherwise the doctor cannot comply with it.

It is possible to record a wish for euthanasia in writing. A sample form with a euthanasia request from the Dutch Association for a Voluntary End of Life is available in the Center for Patient Information of the Netherlands Cancer Institute. A request must be provided with a recent date and your own signature.

The Netherlands Cancer Institute does not reject euthanasia, adheres to the legal rules and has guidelines regarding euthanasia. If you would like to know more about it, you can talk to your doctor, nurse or an employee of the Patient Information Centre.

The Netherlands Cancer Institute believes it is important that you are satisfied with the care you receive.

If you believe that your rights as a patient have not been taken into account in any way, or if you feel that we as a hospital have fallen short in something, please feel free to let us know. Preferably directly to the care provider involved, but if that does not work, you can use the complaint form belonging to the complaints procedure of Antoni van Leeuwenhoek.

Your complaint gives us the opportunity to find a solution and ensure that the problem does not occur again in the future. The complaints procedure is laid down in a leaflet.

The complaints procedure does not apply to a request for compensation. In this case, you should contact the legal department of the Board of Directors of our institute directly.

It is important that you inform your doctor honestly and completely about your physical symptoms, symptoms and use of medicines and alternative remedies.

With this information, he or she can make an accurate diagnosis and give you the right treatment.

If you use health care, you have an identification requirement. To do this, you need a legally recognised proof of identity:

• A valid passport or identity card
• A driver's license

You must bring your passport or driver's license with you on your first visit to the Netherlands Cancer Institute.

You have the obligation to pay the hospital. Payment will almost always be made through your health insurer. If you are unsure whether you are sufficiently insured, please contact your health insurer in advance.

Learn more about health insurance companies

If you have problems with payment, you can contact our Debtor Management department via the general telephone number of the Antoni van Leeuwenhoek: 020 512 9111.

For general questions about your rights and obligations as a patient, please contact the Patient Information Centre of the Netherlands Cancer Institute via the general telephone number 020 512 9111 or via email belmijterug@nki.nl.