The main event of the European Day was a conference on European Patients’ Rights: a European and national challenge. Find in this section the conference results and speeches.

The increasing citizens' mobility within the EU raises specific questions concerning their application to cross-border patients. The initiative of several EU institutions may actually improve the rights of European patients getting care in another Member State. The current challenge is now to make sure that this goes along with a similar improvement of the rights of all European citizens in receiving quality care in their home country.

More than 120 participants - Citizens' organizations, National and European public institutions,  Healt care professionals, Representatives of hospitals, Health industry, etc. -  from about 20 European countries participated in the Gorizia conference.

CONFERENCE PROGRAM
European Patients' Rights: a European and national challenge

9.00 Welcoming remarks        

ETTORE ROMOLI, Mayor of Gorizia

MIRKO BRULC, Mayor of Nova Gorica

ENRICO GHERGHETTA, President of the Gorizia Province

GINO BOVOLENTA, Regional Secretary of Cittadinanzattiva Friuli-Venezia-Giulia

9.45 Presentation of the Slovene legislative framework in the field of the patient's rights

JANEZ REMSKAR, Director-General of the Directorate for Health Care, Ministry of Health, Slovenia

10.00 Presentation of the process leading up to the European Patients' Rights Day

 MELODY ROSS, Project Manager, Active Citizenship Network

10.30 Morning roundtable: Application of the European Charter of Patients' Rights to cross-border Patients The European Charter of Patients' Rights states 14 fundamental rights of European citizens with regard to health care. The increasing citizens' mobility within the EU raises specific questions concerning their application to cross-border patients. The objectives of the roundtable are both to clarify how the rights of cross-border patients are presently protected and to discuss possible solutions to enhance their implementation.

Chairperson: TINA DIVAK, Legal Information Center for NGOs in Slovenia

 GEORGE ARESTIS, Member of the European Court of Justice

 CHARLOTTE ROFFIAEN, Director of Active Citizenship Network

 LAURE ALBERTINI, Director of the Department on Patients' Rights and associations, Assistance Publique des Hôpitaux de Paris, France

 ŠPELA POLAK, Europa Donna, Slovenia

12.00   Debate

14.30  Afternoon roundtable: European Patients' Rights: More rights for all?
The initiative of several EU institutions have recently increased the rights of European patients getting care in another Member State. The current challenge is now to make sure that this goes along with a similar improvement of the rights of all European citizens in receiving quality care in their home country. The purpose of the roundtable is thus to discuss how the European Charter of Patients' Rights could contribute in reaching this objective.  

Chairperson: CHARLES GUTTERIDGE, Director of Royal London Trust, UK

MADI SHARMA, Member of the European Economic and Social Committee

 TERESA PETRANGOLINI

CHRIS WARD, Health policy consultant, PhRMA, USA

 PIM DE GRAAF

 PASCAL GAREL, Chief Executive of European Hospital and Healthcare Federation (HOPE)

LUCIEN BOUIS, Member of the European Economic and Social Committee

 MIKE O'DONOVAN, Board Member of European Patients'

 LILJANA GROSEK, Representative of the Pharmaceutical Group of the European Union      

16.30   Debate

17.30   Conclusions