Hospitals in Türkiye work under national patient rights rules, and most display a patient rights charter. International patients have the same rights as everyone else. Below is a plain summary of what these charters usually say. The hospital where you are treated can give you its own full text.
Your rights
- Access to care. Everyone can use the hospital's services regardless of language, religion, race or belief.
- Information. You can ask about your diagnosis, the proposed treatment, its possible risks and benefits, the alternatives, and what may happen without treatment. The information should be given in a language and a way you understand.
- Consent. Apart from legal and emergency situations, treatment is carried out only after you have been informed and have agreed to it.
- Medical records. You can ask in writing for a copy of your medical records.
- Knowing who treats you. You can learn the names, roles and titles of the doctors, nurses and other staff responsible for your care, and ask to change them.
- Choosing the hospital. You can choose or change the hospital, within the rules that apply to you.
- Refusing or stopping treatment. Except where the law requires treatment, you can refuse it or ask for it to stop. You then carry responsibility for the consequences.
- Privacy. Care should be given in a setting that respects your privacy. Information about your health is confidential and is shared only with your consent or where the law requires it.
- Respect. You should be treated with courtesy and compassion at all times.
- Consultation and a second opinion. You can ask for a consultation with a specialist from another field, or for the view of a different doctor in the same field. This may be charged separately.
- Religious practice. You can practise your religion, as long as it does not interfere with treatment.
- Safety. The hospital takes measures to protect patients, companions and visitors, with extra care for children, older people and people with disabilities.
- Companions and visitors. You can have a companion and receive visitors within the hospital's rules.
- Costs. You can learn the cost of treatment before it starts and ask for a clear, itemised invoice afterwards.
- Complaints. You and your family can make a complaint if your rights are not respected, and be told how it was resolved.
Your responsibilities
- Give the doctors and nurses full and accurate information about your health.
- Follow the treatment plan agreed with your doctor, or tell them if you do not want to.
- Accept responsibility for the consequences if you refuse planned treatment.
- Follow the hospital's rules, including visiting hours and infection control measures.
- Pay for examinations and treatment as agreed.
- Respect other patients, their privacy and their belongings.
When you travel with MedAssist
Your coordinator can help you ask questions, request documents and cost details in writing, and contact the hospital's patient relations office if something goes wrong. The hospital and the treating doctor remain responsible for your medical care.