The patient rights movement in Europe.

Phrases such as 'patient centred healthcare' and 'putting patients first' are becoming common in healthcare discussions in Western society. This makes patient rights an issue. Patient rights are nothing but a modification of general human rights. These have been established in several international documents, such as the main articles of the Standard Rules (resolution 48/96) of the United Nations and the Principles of the Rights of Patients in Europe, which includes a model for a Declaration on the Rights of Patients. What is involved in understanding a patient in the patient rights movement? Patients, seen as people with a long term medical condition, have a relationship with illness which is different from that of healthy people. If we really wish to include this perspective in our discussions and dealings with patients, we have to listen to the patient and the patients' organisations. This approach respects the right of the individual patient to be treated as a human being, but is also about the right of their organisations to be involved in policy-making and decision-making processes at every level. In order to acquaint readers with the main actors in the patient rights movement in Europe, this article discusses the viewpoint of the chronically ill on healthcare, as well as the role of patients' organisations in representing that viewpoint to the healthcare system, providers and society in general.