Awareness of Patients' Rights and the Respect and Dignity Experienced at Hospitals in Karachi, Pakistan

Patients’ experience is often underwhelming when they are encountered by healthcare systems of a densely populated city like Karachi. One of the methods to improve healthcare is by empowering patients to know their rights and ensure they are treated with respect and dignity. A survey was carried out to ascertain how factors such as gender, age, level of education and monthly household income could influence both awareness of patients’ rights and the respect and dignity they receive at hospitals, and how these variables are associated with each other. By using the PMDC code for patients’ rights as a questionnaire and the NHS Essence of Care tool for respect and dignity, a questionnaire was drafted that could determine the level of respect and dignity that patients receive in hospitals. It was found that there was a difference in the different groups in gender, level of education and monthly household income when it came to how aware they were of their rights. Finally, a positive association was noted between awareness of patients’ rights and the respect and dignity they receive at hospitals. This research proves that there is tremendous potential in working to improve patient awareness of their rights and the quality of services in hospitals in Karachi, for which further research is imperative.