Medical records, complaints and consent documents in Romania
A patient in Romania has access to their own medical data (Law no. 46/2003 on patients' rights, art. 24), and the General Data Protection Regulation gives the right to a copy: the first copy is free, and the answer comes without undue delay and within one month, a period that can be extended by two further months only where requests are complex or numerous (arts. 12 and 15). Case notes, the discharge letter, test results and scans are asked for with a request for access to medical records, sent to the hospital, clinic or practice that holds them.
A patient who considers their rights were breached sends a complaint about medical treatment first to the management of the hospital, clinic or practice, setting out what happened, where and when, and what is asked for. A doctor's breach of the code of professional ethics can also be reported to the College of Physicians (Colegiul Medicilor). Costs covered by a private health policy are claimed with a private health insurance claim; a dispute the insurer does not resolve can go to SAL-FIN, the out-of-court dispute body within the Financial Supervisory Authority, or to court.
When a child stays for a while with a grandparent, a nanny or a relative, the parent's consent to medical care by a carer lets the carer take the child to the doctor and agree to routine care; in an emergency, treatment does not wait for the legal representative's consent (Law no. 46/2003, art. 15). It does not replace the procedure for working abroad: a parent with sole parental authority, or with whom the child lives, tells the local social assistance service at least 40 days before leaving, and the guardianship court confirms the person who will look after the child (Law no. 272/2004, art. 104). The documents are in Romanian, and each page describes its document in English; they are filled in online and downloaded as a PDF, or downloaded blank. Sick leave is reported with the notice to the employer, among the employment documents.
The documents
4 forms available to fill out or download.
Parent's consent to a child's medical care by a carer (Romania)
The written consent by which a parent in Romania allows the person looking after the child while the parent is away — a grandparent, a nanny, a relative — to take the child to the doctor and agree to routine medical care, for a set period. It carries the child's medical information and the phone number at which the parent can be reached for any important decision. In an emergency, doctors act regardless.
Complaint about medical treatment (Romania)
The complaint to the management of a hospital, clinic or practice in Romania when a patient considers their rights were breached: what happened, where and when, which rights under Law no. 46/2003 were breached, and what is asked for. It is the first step, before the public health directorate, the college of physicians or a malpractice claim.
Claim under private health insurance (Romania)
The claim to an insurer in Romania for medical costs covered by a private health policy: the policy, the event, the healthcare provider and treatment period, the sum claimed and the documents attached — medical and payment ones. A refusal must be reasoned, and the next step is ASF, SAL-FIN or the courts.
Request for access to medical records (Romania)
The request by which a patient in Romania obtains copies of their own medical records from a hospital, clinic or practice — the case notes, the discharge letter, test results, imaging — under Law no. 46/2003 and art. 15 of the General Data Protection Regulation. The first copy is free, and the provider answers without delay and within a month, extendable by up to two more months only where the complexity or number of requests makes it necessary.