ABSTRACT
There is no specific legal instrument that provides the patient with enforceable rights. The Patient’s Charter has no legal force and it is better to see the document as setting the standards that the NHS should aspire towards. More importantly, although not specific to healthcare, the Human Rights Act (HRA) 1998 came into force on 2 October 2000. This provides that a number of rights, previously protected by the European Convention on Human Rights, will be incorporated directly into English law. While this is not a text on human rights, it is worth noting some of the main implications for healthcare law. The most important changes that the HRA 1998 brings are as follows:
(a) Individuals will now be able to challenge public bodies directly in the domestic court when their protected human rights have been breached. Individuals will no longer have to exhaust all the domestic provisions and then make the slow and expensive trip to Strasbourg in order to claim a breach of one of their rights.
