A complainant informed the Ombudsman of the Republic of Slovenia that there were no call bells in the hospital room. The Ombudsman warned the hospital that call bells were important. The hospital confirmed the complainant's statements, but later corrected its statements, stating that the call bells exist, but are not connected to the central call system. The Ombudsman went on to welcome the hospital's efforts to organise a central call system that would enable appropriate and quick access to help for patients when they need it.

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The Human Rights Ombudsman of the Republic of Slovenia (Ombudsman) received a complaint in which the complainant, a relative of a patient, claimed irregularities in the course of treatment and the attitude of the medical staff towards the patient. The patient was hospitalised twice, was discharged in between, and hospitalised again after his health deteriorated. He died during the second hospitalisation in the hospital.

The complainant accused the hospital of several irregularities concerning the method of treatment, the attitude of the medical staff towards the patient and the acquisition of his medical records, which, however, due to the Ombudsman's incompetence, were not the subject of the Ombudsman's proceedings. One of the complainant's statements also concerned the missing call bells in the hospital, namely, according to the complainant, the patient was supposed to have stayed in a room in which there were no call bells all the time.

The Ombudsman informed the hospital of the complainant's statements. The hospital agreed with the complainant's statements in the part that concerned the call bells. The Ombudsman informed her of his already formed position regarding the call system, namely that the Ombudsman believes that the call system is an important security measure, as call bells ensure a higher level of patient safety. If the patient's health condition suddenly worsens, the call bell is the only contact with help, as the medical staff's bypass is not sufficient in such cases. At the same time, the Ombudsman also suggested that special attention should be paid to monitoring that the staff do not take the call bell away from the patient, who often (according to the staff's assessment, possibly unjustifiably) uses it.[1]

The hospital responded to this and explained that due to the large number of patients who needed isolation due to infection with various transmissible pathogens, some rooms, which were not originally intended for this purpose, were converted for the purpose of isolation. Therefore, there was no (central) call system in these premises either; however, separate wireless call bells that operate remotely have already been installed in all these rooms. Thus, patients could call a nurse at any time even from these isolation rooms. The hospital states that this was also the case during the placement of the patient – in this part, it corrected its first response to the Ombudsman. The hospital added that although it is aware of the importance of the call system, it does not have a central call system provided in all rooms, but it has installed wireless bells that work remotely. Upon receipt of the Ombudsman's proposal, the hospital checked the installation and operation of the call bells in the isolation rooms and confirmed their operation and use.

The Ombudsman welcomes the conduct of the hospital and its efforts to organise a central call system that would enable appropriate and quick access to help for patients when they need it. 9.4-2/2024

[1] The example is available at the web address https://www.varuh-rs.si/obravnavane-pobude/primer/nedelujoci-klicni-sistem-in-zaklepanje-oddelka-v-bolnisnici/, taken from the web on 29/04/2024.