Patients' rights - Hellenic National Contact Point (NCP) for Cross-border Healthcare

Patients’ rights

Free movement of patients – or patient mobility, as it is commonly referred to – implies people accessing health care services outside their home state. Although health care normally is delivered close to where people live, in some instances the need for medical care arises while away from home or patients decide to seek care elsewhere. Patient mobility has raised issues of accessibility to health services as well as the coordination of member states’ health systems.

Patients’ rights in the EU

Patients’ readiness to travel for care, especially across borders, is determined by a mix of factors linked to the specific situation of the patient, to the specific medical needs and to availability of care at home and abroad. Motivations for travelling abroad for care vary from the search for more timely, better quality or more affordable health care to treatment responding better to the patient’s wants or needs – including when care is inexistent at home.

National legislation on patients’ rights in Greece

Patients’ rights awareness in Greece has increased over the last 25 years as a result of social and scientific changes due to the development of medical research and medical technology, the ever-increasing internet access for medical information, the rising awareness for human rights protection, etc. Patients' rights are freedoms that are provided for and protected by the Greek Constitution.

Quality and safety

In the EU, systematic and ongoing efforts are being made to ensure that quality and safety standards of healthcare are improved in the Member States, taking into account advances in medicine, best medical practices and new health technologies.

Medical Records & Data Protection

When receiving cross-border healthcare, be sure to record all medical procedures, examinations, medical history and results you receive from a healthcare professional in an EU/ EEA country to ensure continuity of treatment.

Regulation (EU) 2016/679 (GDPR) provides more rights to citizens to be better informed about the use made of their personal data, and gives clear responsibilities to people and entities using personal data.

Complaints Procedures

EU member states shall ensure that there are mechanisms in place for the protection of patients, filing complaints and claiming redress in the event of damage due to healthcare provided in their territory. Member states shall inform patients of the nature and details of the relevant mechanisms through the national contact points for cross-border healthcare.

Last Update: 3 June 2021