ABSTRACT
This conclusion present some closing thoughts on the concepts covered in the preceding chapters of this book. The book describes the experience of patient advocacy and Patient Ombudsman systems in seven European countries. The countries are Austria, Finland, Greece, Hungary, Israel, Norway and the United Kingdom. The Patient Ombudsman systems cover a wide range of approaches. The Finnish system, with thousands of Ombudsmen working across the country, is significantly different from other systems in terms of the number of Ombudsmen employed and how they share their time working both as Ombudsmen and as health professionals. Israel is the only one of the seven countries included in this presentation where the National Patient Ombudsman has remained since the beginning. The legislation to promote patients' rights and the accompanying Ombudsman system have been well publicised in the Nordic region and beyond. One advantage of the Ombudsman system is that this institution is not empowered to sanction health professionals or impose fines.
