ABSTRACT
When the subject of rights, and particularly 'human rights', is raised in the context of healthcare, it is very easy to focus on the more dramatic end of the spectrum, for example: experimental but risky treatment for otherwise fatal diseases or detention and compulsory treatment in secure mental health hospitals. This chapter provides the difficulties raised by the language of rights and looks at how the Human Rights Act 1998, which came into force in the UK on 2 October 2000, provides practical help for primary care professionals facing dilemmas of these kinds. The language of rights is used routinely in popular discourse. It highlights that the general belief that health professionals owe more to their patients than minimal adherence to the law does not help individual professionals deal with the dilemmas presented to them by the language of rights. The chapter tabulates the Articles of the Convention that are of most potential significance to those working in healthcare.
