Awareness of Patients’ rights in Clinical Services among Clients Attending the Outpatients Department at Mawenzi Regional Referral Hospital, Tanzania

Abstract Without the appropriate understanding of the patient’s rights, the healthcare team may at times be prone to various tendencies, such as failure to respect patient autonomy, such as acting in a paternalist manner, or making clinical decisions on behalf of the patient or family; another way it can occur includes cases in which not all options, risks or side effects may be appropriately disclosed. This study explored the awareness of patients’ rights to clinical services among clients attending the outpatient department at the Mawenzi Regional Referral Hospital. Methods: This was an exploratory cross-sectional study design that employed qualitative methods for data collection. The study was carried out among 34 clients attending the outpatient department at Mawenzi Regional Referral Hospital in the Kilimanjaro region, Tanzania: the medical unit, the Care and Treatment Clinic (CTC) unit, the gynecology unit, and the TB and leprosy unit. In-depth interviews were conducted with 20 participants, while 14 participants participated in group discussions. The data were analysed via inductive thematic analysis, which allowed the data to identify and determine the themes in this study, which were then presented in the form of extracts or quotes. Nvivo 12 software was used to support the data analysis. Results: The majority of the participants were aware of patients' rights. They cited patient rights such as the right to medical care, the right to information, the right to privacy, and the right to choices and dignity. The minority were not able to do so because of challenges such as information not reaching everyone in the community (information scarcity) and a language barrier. Conclusion: To increase awareness, there is a need for more sensitization of patients' rights through the client's service charter for health facilities and a relevant health policy to guide the implementation of patients' rights.