Activities of Salvatore TATARELLA related to 2008/0142(COD)
Plenary speeches (1)
Patients' rights in cross-border healthcare (debate)
Amendments (7)
Amendment 63 #
Proposal for a directive
Recital 5
Recital 5
(5) As confirmed by the Court of Justice on several occasions, while recognizing their specific nature, all types of medical care fall within the scope of the Treaty. In particular, all European citizens holding a European Health Insurance Card should, by virtue of the principles of solidarity and reciprocity, be given emergency care in whichever Member State a patient happens to be, irrespective of the financial implications that the treatment might entail for the hospital providing the service or of the country or local authority responsible for that hospital. In accordance with the principle of reciprocity, the services should be paid for by the Member State where the emergency treatment was administered, and the cost, subsequently reimbursed in full by the Member State of affiliation.
Amendment 83 #
Proposal for a directive
Recital 10
Recital 10
(10) For the purposes of this Directive, the concept of “cross-border healthcare” covers the following modes of supply of healthcare: – Use of healthcare abroad (i.e.: a patient moving to a healthcare provider in another Member State for treatment); this is what is referred to as ‘patient mobility’; – Cross-border provision of healthcare (i.e.: delivery of service from the territory of one Member State into the territory of another); such as telemedicine services, remote diagnosis and prescription, laboratory services; – Provision of emergency healthcare and, subject to different rules, the delivery of care to patients who have chosen to go to another Member State (the “Member State of delivery”) in order to undergo planned treatment; – Permanent presence of a healthcare provider (i.e.: establishment of a healthcare provider in another Member State); and, – Temporary presence of persons (i.e.: mobility of health professionals, for example moving temporarily to the Member State of the patient to provide services).
Amendment 88 #
Proposal for a directive
Recital 11
Recital 11
(11) As recognised by the Member States in the Council Conclusions on Common values and principles in European Union Health Systems there is a set of operating principles that are shared by health systems throughout the Community. These operating principles include quality, safety, care that is based on evidence and ethics, patient involvement, redress, the fundamental right to privacy with respect to the processing of personal data, and confidentiality. Patients, professionals and authorities responsible for health systems must be able to rely on these shared principles being respected and structures provided for their implementation throughout the Community. It is therefore appropriate to require that it is the authorities of the Member State on whose territory the healthcare is provided, who are responsible for ensuring compliance with those operating principles and, in any event, for delivering the healthcare needed to administer treatment in case of emergency. This is necessary to ensure the confidence of patients in cross-border healthcare, which is itself necessary for achieving patients’ mobility and free movement of provision of healthcare in the internal market as well as a high level of health protection.
Amendment 102 #
Proposal for a directive
Recital 16
Recital 16
(16) Member States should ensure, that mechanisms for the protection of patients and the compensation for harm are in place for healthcare provided on their territory and that they are appropriate to the nature and extent of the risk. However, it is for the Member State to determine the nature and/or modalities of such a mechanism. Specific provisions and special coordinating measures should, in any event, be laid down in order to coordinate the activities of hospitals constituting centres of excellence, in particular with a view to guaranteeing access to the best care for those patients in the EU genuinely in need of it. To that end, and especially where patients acting by choice are concerned, each Member State should designate the national, regional, and local bodies responsible for ascertaining whether there is a real need to use healthcare in another Member State and for compiling lists of prior authorisations for treatment at a centre of excellence in a Member State other than the patient’s country of residence. The Member State of affiliation should thereafter provide the funds required to reimburse the cost of the treatment for which prior authorisation was obtained.
Amendment 277 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 4 - points (f a) and (f b) (new)
Article 4 - points (f a) and (f b) (new)
fa ) "urgent acute patient" means a patient in a situation of health emergency, in particular one at risk of loss of life or loss of functioning of vital organs in the very near future, the treatment of whom requires beyond all doubt the immediate intervention of the health services; fb) "voluntary patient" means a patient choosing the place of treatment on the basis of a range of reasons such as: better treatment, shorter waiting periods, family reasons or convenience for convalescence.
Amendment 467 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 8 – paragraph 2 a (new)
Article 8 – paragraph 2 a (new)
2a. A Member State may not refuse to provide care and must meet the full cost of treatment for any patient in an emergency situation on its territory.
Amendment 506 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 8 a (new)
Article 8 a (new)
Article 8a Specialised care in hospitals constituting centres of excellence 1. The Commission and the Member States shall encourage hospitals constituting centres of excellence to coordinate their activities, not least with a view to establishing a data bank for patients giving information about the availability of treatment in such hospitals, and shall help to set up the networks necessary for professional interchange, exchange of information, rotating use of technologically advanced devices, and exchange of good practice regarding the treatment of patients. 2. Member States shall designate the national bodies called upon to assess the characteristics of patients’ diseases and the need for specialised care and to compile prior authorisation lists for the purposes of treatment in centres of excellence in a Member State other than the patient’s country of residence. National bodies shall work in close coordination with such regional and local counterparts as might exist. The home Member State of the centre concerned shall thereafter provide the funds necessary to pay for the treatment for which prior authorisation has been obtained.