Duties of citizenship

Everyone has a duty not to discriminate and to respect health professionals on any grounds, such as religion, gender or ideology.

Everyone has the duty not to discriminate and to respect other users, their relatives or companions for any reason whatsoever, such as ideology, religion or gender. At the same time, everyone has the duty to respect the right of others to express those manifestations that have to do with their freedom of religion, worship, beliefs or ideology and not to incite discrimination in any way in access to health and health care.

Everyone, whether as an individual or as a community, has a duty to contribute to the improvement and care of the environment by taking all necessary measures to achieve this goal. In the case of health care waste and medicines, everyone has the right to facilitate their safe and sustainable disposal.

Everyone has the duty to take care of one's own health and to do so in a responsible and active manner. Everyone who is responsible for decisions concerning the health and health care of others must ensure that appropriate preventive and health protection measures are taken.

Everyone has a duty to be aware of the consequences of not taking individual preventive measures and to take all possible precautions to avoid health risks to others and to the community.

Everyone has a duty to make responsible use of all the preventive measures available to them. The proper use of these preventive resources helps to guarantee the effectiveness and sustainability of the system.

Everyone has a duty to know and ensure compliance with the regulations in force for the protection of collective health.

Everyone has the duty to comply with all exceptional measures established by the health authorities in cases where there is a serious risk to public health, and under the terms established by the legislation in force. The health authorities must bring to the attention of the judicial authority, when necessary, the need to impose the adoption of the most serious measures that mean the restriction of freedom or other fundamental rights of persons, within the time limits established by the legislation in force.

Everyone has a duty to behave in a respectful manner and to make appropriate use of health services and facilities in order to ensure their optimal functioning and maintenance. Everyone can seek the advice of healthcare professionals in order to better guide the use of healthcare services and facilities. Responsible use of care services contributes to the efficiency and sustainability of health systems. Excessive use of these systems, without due justification, unnecessarily collapses or hampers the effective functioning of services.

Every person has the duty to respect the established scheduling times and the duty to give as much advance notice as possible that he/she cannot attend any scheduled appointment at a healthcare centre, in the event that he/she is unable to do so. It is the duty of every person, or the person to whom he/she delegates responsibility, to give notice in due time and form of not being able to attend a scheduled appointment at a healthcare centre, whenever there are force majeure causes that prevent this. Co-responsibility for the appropriate use of healthcare helps to maintain the proper functioning of services and the sustainability of the healthcare system.

Every person has the duty to respect the instructions and rules that have been established in each of the health centres, institutions or services where he/she is treated. The habits, customs and lifestyles of individuals must, in this sense, be compatible with the instructions and rules established in the health centres and services, which are crucial for their correct organisation and operation.

Every person has the duty to promptly inform when there is a company or entity responsible for covering care other than the public insurer. This is especially relevant in cases of traffic, sports, or work-related accidents, as well as in the assistance of displaced persons. The individual has the duty to provide the necessary information to ensure proper management of healthcare coverage—another way to contribute to the sustainability of the healthcare system.

Everyone has a duty to respect the confidentiality and privacy of third parties in all healthcare settings, including home care. This duty also includes respecting the regulations for the use of recording, taping and reproduction media within the health care setting or in any health care act. Any person may seek the opinion of healthcare professionals in order to better guide the use of healthcare services and facilities. Responsible use of care services contributes to the efficiency and sustainability of health systems. Excessive use of these systems, without due justification, unnecessarily collapses or hampers the effective functioning of services.

Everyone has the duty to respect the cultural and moral values, religious, ethical and spiritual convictions arising from the freedom of worship, religious and ideological freedom of others, in an environment of mutual respect.

Every person has the duty to be jointly responsible for their own healthcare process, to know the characteristics of their illness, the implications of the treatment they are undergoing and to participate actively with the professionals involved in their healthcare process. The effective empowerment of people with regard to their health process leads to a model of shared decision-making, together with health professionals. Every person can seek the opinion of health professionals in order to better guide the use of health services and facilities. Responsible use of care services contributes to the efficiency and sustainability of health systems. Excessive use of these systems, without due justification, unnecessarily collapses or hampers the effective functioning of services.

It is the duty of every person to know the consequences of refusing a given diagnostic test, treatment, surgical intervention or any other health action. In the event of refusal of any of the aforementioned health actions, it is the duty of every person to make an explicit verbal and/or written record of their refusal, provided that they have been duly informed of the consequences that may derive from the action. This refusal shall be recorded in the person's clinical record.

The legal representatives of the person being cared for have the duty to reach a consensus on all decisions regarding the health actions that the patient must undergo, whether these are of a preventive, protective or restorative nature. In the event of a discrepancy between two or more of the person's legal representatives, the latter should heed the request of the health professionals to participate in the arbitration and mediation procedures so that the decision to be adopted in relation to the care of the person concerned is delayed as little as possible.

Every person has the duty to accept a medical discharge that has been taken in accordance with medical criteria and that is conditional upon the achievement of the therapeutic objectives, once the healthcare process has been completed in the corresponding healthcare centre or unit, and that these have been offered taking into account the complexity of care and the different levels of the healthcare system. In the event of disagreement with discharge between health professional and patient, the person has the duty to provide his/her motives and reasons and to document them so that, if the situation so requires, the necessary health care alternatives can be provided.

All persons have the duty to provide the data available to them concerning family and/or personal history, physical condition and all data necessary for a correct health care process, within the limits required by respect for their right to confidentiality of their data and privacy, so that their clinical history includes all information that is essential for up-to-date and accurate knowledge of their state of health. This information may include social data, if these are relevant to care or treatment. At the same time, every person has a duty to be aware that the omission of important data concerning his or her own health, either by him or her or by the computer system, is likely to result in any detriment to his or her health care. Every person has the duty to provide all data relating to his or her health situation, with the aim of facilitating the healthcare process and guaranteeing its quality or for reasons of public interest in favour of collective health.

Everyone has the duty to use new technologies (applications, devices, websites, social networks, blogs, forums, etc.) in a responsible manner with regard to their own health, and to report any inappropriate use, always guaranteeing respect for the confidentiality and privacy of third parties. Likewise, everyone has the duty to know that the generation of untruthful information and its improper dissemination through the media, networks or social networks may cause harm and damage to other people, both individually and to the healthcare system as a whole.

Any person who is acting on behalf of a minor or a person with incapacity has the duty to prove this representation in an effective manner, and thus communicate it to the corresponding health care centre. At the same time, this person has the duty to notify if any circumstance has occurred that entails a change or limitation in his or her powers of representation.

It is the duty of every person to report any changes or data that may be considered erroneous in their clinical history, whether these are identifying data or data referring to their health or health care. It is essential to have a good record of the data of health system users in order to guarantee their safety in health care and, at the same time, to speed up the care process for future care.

Every person has the duty to inform the professionals responsible for their health care in a relevant manner of the correct compliance, or not, with the proposed treatment and to facilitate a correct review. Providing truthful, reliable and trustworthy information on the follow-up - or not - of the treatment is vital for the protection and safety of the person in the framework of health care and health.

Every person has the duty to make appropriate and responsible use of the benefits of the health system, as well as to follow the proposed treatment in a correct manner and in accordance with the indications given by the health professionals and the established conditions of use, and to communicate that he/she has not done so, if this is the case.

Every person has the duty to identify themselves in a relevant manner with the personal and non-transferable health card, as well as with other supporting documents that may be necessary, in order to receive healthcare in an environment of clinical safety. The relevant and appropriate use of personal identification documents allows safe and correct access to the clinical record and helps to avoid diagnostic, prognostic or therapeutic errors.

All persons, once they have signed the relevant informed consent form, have the duty to comply honestly with all the responsibilities that participation in any research project entails and that are described in the consent form, as well as to report any problem, symptom, effect or sign that may appear during the study and to formally inform the principal investigators if they wish to leave the study.

Every person who participates as an active agent in the health system has the duty to be informed and to know how it works, so that this participation can contribute value and be responsible, taking into account their proposals and their feasibility, their impact on the sustainability of the health system as a whole and the effect they may have on the citizenry as a whole.

Every person who participates in the health system as a social agent representing the collective has the duty to do so with the primary objective of seeking the common good, acting fairly and without discrimination, always putting the interest of the collective he or she represents ahead of individual interests.