The emergence of the comprehensive field of medical law is aimed, among other things, at protecting patients from the various risks brought about by advances in medical science. The importance attached today to the principle of respect for individual autonomy has also influenced the formation of a specific catalogue of patient rights. The presence of the Charter of Patients' Rights and Duties in the life of our medical institutions is not a fashion or a slogan to improve its image. It is a necessity and an obligation for all healthcare establishments, doctors, nurses and midwives in private practice and other persons and entities providing or participating in the provision of healthcare in our country to make this Charter available to the users of a public or non-public healthcare establishment. If the patient knows his or her rights and how to enforce them, the doctor or other person providing health care cannot afford any lapses. Awareness of the patient's rights has an organising and disciplinary effect on the functioning of the healthcare system. The patient's awareness of the possibility of exercising his or her rights in health care institutions has a significant impact on increasing the quality of medical services offered in health care institutions. Although the legal regulations on patients' rights adopted in Poland after 1990 do not differ in their essential content from those adopted in most European countries, respecting them in our country still raises a great many reservations and comments.
