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Monitoring In Hospital

Original Language Title: Acompanhamento familiar em internamento hospitalar

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DRAFT LAW NO. 400 /X

Family monitoring of children and people with impairment admitted

Exhibition of reasons

The legal arrangements for follow-up of child and person with disabilities admitted to

hospital or health unit, is found in scattered legislation and does not provide for the right

to the monitoring may be limited for public health reasons.

Being clear that this right cannot be absolute, the law has to predict that the doctor

responsible can upon evaluation of the case, prevent follow-up, in cases in

that the interned person is a carrier of communicable disease and in which contact with

others constitute a risk to public health.

Without introducing any background changes to the material regime of the follow-up

hospital, aggregates in one diploma the legal rules regarding follow-up

hospital who are found to be dispersed in Law No. 21/81 of August 19 (follow-up

family of hospitalized child), in Law 109/97, of September 16 (follow-up

family of hospitalized disabled persons) and in the Decree -Law No. 26/87 of January 13 that

provides for the right to free meal for the companion of the hospitalized child, making

however to depend this right on the fact that the chaperone is exempt from the payment of

moderating rate.

It is also taken advantage of, to update the monitoring regime, by extending it, in a

perspective of humanization of health care to other people, such as seniors in

state of dependence, and conforming the age of the child to all legal effects to the

international instruments of which Portugal is a signatory, namely the Convention of the

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Rights of the Child, establishing itself by extending the scheme to all persons with age to

at the age of 18.

Finally, it proceeds to the enlargement and updating of the right to free meal, of which

pass to be holders, verified certain conditions, the person's chaperones

interned.

Thus, with the aim of allowing the limitation of the right to follow-up

permanent, based on the fact that such monitoring constitutes a risk to the

public health, the Deputes of the Parliamentary Group of the Socialist Party, present the

following draft law:

Article 1.

Scope

This Law establishes the scheme of the family monitoring of child, person with

disability, elderly people in addictive situation, and people with incurable disease

in an advanced state and in a final state of life, in hospital or health unit.

Article 2.

Family follow up of interned child

1. The child, aged up to the age of 18, interned in hospital or unit of health,

is entitled to the permanent monitoring of the father and the mother, or of person who the

replace.

2. The child over the age of 14 years will be able to, if he so understand, assign the

accompanying person, or even prescinding of it, without prejudice to the application of the

article 6.

3. The exercise of the monitoring, provided for in this Law, is free of charge, and may not

the hospital or the health unit require any retribution.

4. In cases where the child interned is the carrier of communicable disease and in

that contact with others constitutes a risk to public health, the right to

follow-up will be able to cease or be limited, by written referral from the doctor

responsible.

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Article 3.

Family monitoring of dependent persons

1. The disabled, the elderly people in dependence situation, the people

with incurable disease in advanced state and people in a final state of life,

internships in hospital or health unit, are entitled to follow up

permanent of ascending, of a descendant, of the spouse or equated, and in the

absence or hindrance of these, of familial or of the person who replaces it.

2. It is applicable to the family monitoring of the persons identified in the number

previous article numbers 3 and 4 of the previous article.

Article 4.

Conditions of the monitoring

1. Permanent family monitoring is exercised both in the daytime period and

nocturage, and with respect for the instructions and technical rules regarding the care of

applicable health and by the remaining standards set out in the respective regulation

hospital.

2. Unless exceptional cases, it is vehement to the accompanying person to attend interventions

surgical to which the interned person is subjected, as well as to treatments in which

their presence is detrimental to the correction and effectiveness of them.

Article 5.

Cooperation between the accompanist and the services

1. Health professionals must provide the accompaniment to the convenient

information and guidance, so that this one can, if it so understands, under the supervision

of those, collaborate in the provision of care to the interned person.

2. The chaperones shall comply with the instructions which, pursuant to this Law,

they are given to them by the health professionals.

Article 6.

Meals

The accompanying person of the person, is entitled to free meal, in the hospital or in the

health unit, whenever it stays at the institution 6 hours a day, be exempt from the

moderating fee payment in access to health benefits under the System

National Health, and provided that one of the following conditions has been verified:

a) the interned person finds himself in danger of life;

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b) the interned person finds himself in the postoperative period and up to 48 hours after the

intervention;

c) when the accompanying person is a mother and is breastfeeding the interned child;

d) when the person interned is isolated for reasons of medico-surgical criterion;

e) when the accompanying person resides at a distance greater than 30 km from the place where if

it situates the hospital or the health unit where the internment runs.

Article 7.

Absence of companion

When the person interned may not be accompanied under the terms of this Law, the

administration of the hospital or the health unit should diligenate so that the person

internothing is provided personalized listening by changing the ratio

nurse / patient.

Article 8.

Abrogation standard

Act No 21/81 of August 19, Law No 109/97 of September 16, is repealed.

Article 9.

Transient standard

Article 4 of this Law shall come into force with the State Budget Act for 2008,

by holding up to that date in force the Decree-Law No 26/87 of January 13.

S. Bento, July 20, 2007

The Deputies