French Public Health Code
In forceI.-Health establishments providing the public hospital service and the health professionals working in them guarantee any person using their services:
1° An appropriate level of care, particularly when the person is disabled or in a precarious social situation, and a response time appropriate to their state of health ;
2° Permanent reception and care, in particular as part of the permanent care service organised by the competent regional health agency under the conditions laid down in this code, or, failing that, care by another health establishment or by another structure capable of providing the necessary care;
3° Equal access to preventive activities and quality care;
4° No charges in excess of the tariffs set by the administrative authority and the tariffs for fees provided for in 1° of I of article L. 162-14-1 of the Social Security Code.
Patients benefit from these guarantees even when they are temporarily transferred to another health establishment or another structure for medical procedures.
II - Health establishments providing the public hospital service are also bound by the following obligations:
1° They guarantee the participation of representatives of users of the healthcare system. For private health establishments, this participation takes the form of representatives in an advisory capacity under the conditions defined in article L. 6161-1-1. Where there is no board of directors, supervisory board or equivalent body, the head of the establishment is required to consult the users' representatives sitting on the users' commission, provided for in article L. 1112-3, on the strategy and management of the establishment, in accordance with the conditions laid down by regulation;
2° Each year they submit their operating accounts to the relevant regional health agency.
III -Health establishments also implement the following actions:
1° They may be designated by the Director General of the Regional Health Agency to participate in the territorial professional health communities referred to in Article L. 1434-12 ;
2° They may be designated by the Director General of the Regional Health Agency in the event of a shortfall in the supply of health services, established under the conditions set out in III of article L. 1434-10 or, within the framework of the regional health project referred to in article L. 1434-1, to develop actions to meet the health needs of the population;
3° They develop, at the request of the Regional Health Agency and, in the case of private health establishments, after obtaining the opinion of the establishment's medical committees and conferences, cooperative initiatives with other health establishments, medico-social establishments and social establishments, as well as with private health professionals, health centres and nursing homes;
4° They inform the Regional Health Agency of any plans to cease or modify their healthcare activities that are likely to restrict the supply of healthcare services, and work with the Agency to identify possible developments and cooperation with other healthcare providers in order to meet the health needs of the population covered by these activities;
5° They shall develop healthcare initiatives aimed at improving access and continuity of care, as well as initiatives related to specific risks, in isolated territories of the collectivities mentioned in Article 73 of the Constitution, in Saint-Barthélemy, Saint-Martin and Saint-Pierre-et-Miquelon.
IV. - The provisions of I, 1° of II and III apply to army hospitals, in accordance with their priority mission of providing health support to the armed forces, under the following conditions:
1° Representatives of users of the healthcare system are consulted on decisions relating to the strategy and management of the establishment, within the framework of a users' commission, the tasks and composition of which are set by decree in the Conseil d'Etat;
2° The actions mentioned in 1°, 2°, 3° and 5° of III may only be implemented with the agreement of the Minister of Defence.
