Doctor and patient rights and obligations

1. Can a doctor refuse to take me as a patient?

Doctors are only obliged to take patients if it is an emergency. Otherwise, they may refuse patients if they do not have the capacity or the right specialist qualifications. Those who pay their bills late may also be refused as patients. A doctor is only obliged to treat you if their practice has already accepted you as a patient. This contractual relationship is one that can be terminated, however.

2. Right to decide: as a patient, what can I decide for myself?

Individuals who have legal capacity may refuse treatment, check-up examinations, vaccines and genetic tests at any time. No medical procedure may be performed without the patient’s consent. In addition, patients are entitled to a second opinion. To make provision should you become incapacitated, you can set out your wishes in a living will or issue an advance directive. Communicable diseases such as tuberculosis and typhoid are an exception, however. Here, doctors can force you to have treatment.

3. What rights do I have to information?

Doctors have an obligation to inform patients fully and in person about their state of health and their treatment. This covers treatment options, alternatives, the chances of recovery, risks, side-effects, and possible complications and costs, for example. Equally, patients have the right to know, and can therefore refuse to be given certain information, such as the results of genetic testing.

The burden of proving that a patient has been properly informed lies with the doctor. Even after the fact, they can provide evidence that the patient is a reasonable person and would have agreed to the treatment anyway. In some cases, doctors ask their patients to sign a written document to confirm that they have been briefed appropriately (source: Federal Act on Data Protection, Art. 8).

4. Are patients allowed to see their own records?

Patients may see their own records at any time, and may also request a copy. These documents must be kept for ten years after their last update by anyone who has provided treatment – not just the doctors. Patients can report errors in their records, which should be corrected immediately.

Patient records contain the following (this list is not exhaustive):

• Symptoms

• Substantiated diagnoses

• Surgery reports

• Anaesthesia protocols

• Patient information protocols

• Progress and discharge reports

• Prescribed treatments

• Test results (lab reports, x-rays, etc.)

• Referrals

The electronic patient records (EPR) system was launched nationwide in Switzerland in 2020. As the holder of an EPR, you can access your records at any time via a secure Internet connection.

5. Doctor-patient confidentiality: what information can the doctor disclose?

Doctors have a professional duty of confidentiality and are not permitted to pass any information on to third parties without the patient's consent. However, reportable diseases such as tuberculosis are exempt from this confidentiality obligation, as are statutory offences that are subject to prosecution (source: Swiss Criminal Code, Art. 321).

6. Duty of care

All patients have the right to be treated with due care by medical professionals. Examinations, tests and treatment must reflect the latest findings in research and practice, and follow the recognized rules of the medical profession. Not every complication constitutes an error in treatment, and not every treatment error results from a breach of the duty of care. Consult the Smarter Medicine website (in German and French only) for recommendations on avoiding unnecessary and inappropriate intervention.

7. Rights and obligations in hospital

Patients must respect the hospital's rules and be considerate towards other patients. They may insist that discussions on medical issues are held where they cannot be overheard. Patients may also limit who visits them, and when.

8. Duty to cooperate: do I have to answer the doctor's questions?

As a patient, you have a duty to answer your doctors’ questions truthfully. It is also in your own interests to let your care team know about what medication you are taking, any allergies, and any previous or current conditions, etc. Failure to provide that information may result in serious complications.

9. Duty to minimize costs

You have a duty to limit costs, such as those incurred by your health insurer or the state disability insurance scheme (IV/AI). Unnecessary costs strain the principle of solidarity that underpins the health insurance system in Switzerland, which ultimately results in premiums that are higher than they need to be.

10. Do I have the right to an assisted suicide?

Directly and actively helping someone to die – deliberately killing them to end their suffering – is a criminal offence in Switzerland. Passively helping someone to commit suicide is not unlawful, however. This means consciously not taking action that would prolong life.