I would like to thank you for the resulting letter of apology from the health trust. However small those results may seem I have taken great comfort in drawing closure over a part of my life I can now put to rest.

What about my human rights?

Everybody has human rights. The Human Rights Act and the European Convention of Human Rights outline what our legal rights are. In cases of medical injury, these rights have often been compromised, and as a result, you have been injured. Here are a few examples of what human rights laws say:

  • Article 2 – this protects the right to life, and can be cited when patients have received below-standard care, have been refused expensive drugs or have not been fed. It is Article 2 which demands that any untoward or unexpected deaths must be fully investigated, usually through an inquest.
  • Article 3 – this forbids inhuman or degrading treatment. This may be relevant if you did not give proper consent for treatment. It can also support cases where vulnerable people, such as the elderly or mental health patients did not receive adequate treatment.
  • Article 8 – states that there must be respect for private and family life, and can be quoted in cases where confidential medical information has been disclosed.
  • Article 14 – bans discrimination of any kind, and can be important in cases where age-based rationing of healthcare has taken place, or patients have been discriminated against in any way.

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