Riverview Hospital establishes Canada's first Charter of Patient Rights

1994 Riverview Hospital was the first Canadian psychiatric facility to enact a Charter of Patient Rights in 1994. Among other things, this Charter established the rights of individuals who have been involuntarily committed to a psychiatric hospital. Those rights include:

-the right to be informed of the reasons for detention and of the available review process

-the right to a review panel with an advocate representing the individual

-the right to counsel from a lawyer in cases where the individual was committed under the Criminal Code of Canada

-the right to be fully informed of the rules and regulations and legal rights pertaining to the person’s hospitalization

-the right to see his or her hospital record, to attach a statement of corrections and to have a specific part of the record copied, without charge, unless harmful to third parties or self

-the right to have all information relating to care while hospitalized shared only with individuals directly involved with treatment of the person, except where required by law

-the right, if eligible, to vote in any municipal, provincial, or federal election

-the right not to be subjected to any form of cruel or unusual treatment or punishment

-the right of access to an independent organization to investigate any alleged violation of these rights

-Caroline Lyster

Riverview Hospital establishes Canada's first Charter of Patient Rights

1994 Riverview Hospital was the first Canadian psychiatric facility to enact a Charter of Patient Rights in 1994. Among other things, this Charter established the rights of individuals who have been involuntarily committed to a psychiatric hospital. Those rights include:

-the right to be informed of the reasons for detention and of the available review process

-the right to a review panel with an advocate representing the individual

-the right to counsel from a lawyer in cases where the individual was committed under the Criminal Code of Canada

-the right to be fully informed of the rules and regulations and legal rights pertaining to the person’s hospitalization

-the right to see his or her hospital record, to attach a statement of corrections and to have a specific part of the record copied, without charge, unless harmful to third parties or self

-the right to have all information relating to care while hospitalized shared only with individuals directly involved with treatment of the person, except where required by law

-the right, if eligible, to vote in any municipal, provincial, or federal election

-the right not to be subjected to any form of cruel or unusual treatment or punishment

-the right of access to an independent organization to investigate any alleged violation of these rights

-Caroline Lyster