On June 4, 2021, a round table on the topic "The practice of mediation in resolving disputes between patients and medical organizations: problems and prospects" was held in Nur-Sultan in an online format, organized by the Astana Medical University and the International Institute of Mediation.
This is the second event dedicated to mediation as a simpler and more accessible way to protect the rights of medical patients. The relevance of this event is primarily related to the need to analyze the practice of mediation in the resolution of medical disputes and its impact on the existing practice of dispute resolution in this area.
The event served as a dialogue platform for the exchange of views and discussion of topical issues of the practice of mediation in the field of health care and, according to its organizers, will contribute to increasing the confidence of the country's population in this method of resolving conflict situations.
As practice shows, through mediation, protracted conflicts between medical organizations, doctors and patients are regulated, the burden on the courts is reduced, and the economic burden on medical organizations to pay material damage to patients when providing them with poor-quality medical care.
The round table was attended by members of the Parliament of the Republic of Kazakhstan, judges, mediators, legal practitioners, representatives of the Ministry of Health of the Republic of Kazakhstan, medical and law universities, professional associations of doctors, trade unions of health workers and others.
Deputy of the Mazhilis of the Parliament of the Republic of Kazakhstan, member of the Committee on Legislation and Judicial and Legal Reform, Chairman of the working group on consideration of the draft Law of the Republic of Kazakhstan "On Amendments and Additions to certain legislative Acts of the Republic of Kazakhstan on the development of institutions of out-of-court and pre-trial dispute settlement" B. A. Bekzhanov made the first welcoming speech at the round table. He spoke about the problems and prospects for the development of legislation in the field of out-of-court and pre-trial dispute resolution.
Head of the Department of Medical Education of the Department of Science and Human Resources of the Ministry of Health of the Republic of Kazakhstan A. O. Mysaev, who, in particular, stressed the need to disseminate the experience of the Astana Medical University on the creation of mediation centers in medical universities of the country, which will reduce the level of conflict in healthcare.
One of the initiators of the creation of mediation centers in the country - Chairman of the Board of Directors of NAO "Astana Medical University", Corresponding member of the National Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Kazakhstan, Doctor of Law, Professor B. Zh Abdirayim in his speech noted the role of health insurance in protecting the professional responsibility of doctors. This will reduce the risk of high personal costs to the doctor in the event of legal proceedings in relation to his professional activities, including in the event of an unintentional incident.
Member of the Commission on Human Rights under the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan, Director of the Expert Institute of European Law and Human Rights, Doctor of Law, Professor Marat Bashimov noted the human rights potential of the mediation institute. A mediator is an ombudsman, a mediator who protects human rights, for example, in France, this is what it is called. Therefore, the creation of such centers in such an important area as healthcare is a big step in the implementation of the principles of the Constitution of Kazakhstan.
Judge, coordinator of conciliation procedures of the court of Nur-Sultan G. R. Rakhmetova noted that the active activity of the judges of the court of the capital in resolving disputes with the use of mediation is aimed at reducing social tension in society.
Among the foreign participants, interest was aroused by the speech of the Director of the Mediation Institute of the Russian Academy of Advocacy and Notaries, the president of the Union of Mediators of the International Association of Russian-speaking Lawyers (IDA), a member of the interdepartmental working group on improving the regulation of conciliation procedures of the Ministry of Justice of the Russian Federation, E. N. Senina. She highlighted the issues of resolving disputes of Russian citizens who are abroad through the use of mediation, and spoke about the activities of the MARA Union of Mediators.
Director of the Center for Effective Dispute Resolution (CEDR) Graham Massie (UK) in his speech highlighted the activities of the Center, which has been operating in London for more than 30 years. The Center has established a service for resolving medical disputes, which last year handled more than 400 cases through mediation, and this figure continues to grow steadily every year.
V. V. Polishchuk, Director of the International Mediation Center in Kiev, Chairman of the Labor Law Committee of the National Bar Association of Ukraine, shared Ukraine's experience in the use of mediation in resolving medical disputes. She, in particular, noted that each head of a medical institution should take care of the development and approval, in accordance with the requirements of the current legislation, of the rules for conflict resolution, which should be mandatory for employees. Such documents significantly minimize the occurrence of conflict situations in the healthcare sector of Ukraine.
Chairman of the Kazakhstan Branch Trade Union of Healthcare Workers B. A. Tazhibay spoke about the planned launch of the project "Medical Lawyer of the trade Union AQNIET" in order to protect the rights of patients and increase their confidence in mediation as an affordable way to resolve disputes.
The Executive Director of the NGO "Kazakhstan Alliance of Medical Organizations" R. K. Satyvaldeev focused on some aspects of the protection of the rights of medical workers, in particular, on the issues of professional liability insurance.
The head of the Reconciliation Center "Tatulasu ortalygy" at the NAO "Astana Medical University", director of the Private institution "International Institute of Mediation", professional mediator-practitioner Zh.Zh. Usypbekova told about the experience of the Reconciliation Center "Tatulasu ortalygy" at the NAO "Astana Medical University". She proposed to launch a pilot project "Rating of medical organizations to reduce conflict between patients and medical personnel"together with the Moscow Health Department.
The head of the Department of Medical Law and Ethics, Candidate of Legal Sciences, Professor Zh.At Tlembayev's. In her speech, she stressed that the creation of mediation centers is the most important social innovation in demand by life. The urgency of creating such centers at medical universities is due to the urgent need to master modern alternative technologies for resolving conflict situations between participants in health relations.
Following the results of the round table, recommendations were developed, which will be sent to the Ministry of Health of the Republic of Kazakhstan.
For information about the Mediation Center:
The rapid development of modern legislation, the increased requirements for the provision of high-quality medical care, and the facts of adverse outcomes of medical intervention clearly indicate the need to improve legal knowledge in the medical profession. There are cases when a doctor, being a good specialist, does not have the skills to resolve conflicts, can not prevent and resolve them. Therefore, today the medical community is more aware than ever of the need to master medical and legal knowledge.
The State Program for the Development of Healthcare in the Republic of Kazakhstan for 2020-2025 provides for the active involvement of universities, the insurance business and the non-governmental sector in the issues of medical law. In this regard, the Department of Medical Law and Ethics was established within the walls of the Moscow Medical University in 2020, the main purpose of which is to provide future doctors and other medical professionals with the optimal amount of specialized legal knowledge necessary in the implementation of professional medical activities. Since November 2020, the Tatulasu Ortalygy Reconciliation Center has been operating at the Astana Medical University. The creation of the Center allows not only to resolve medical disputes, but also to improve the skills of conflict resolution of medical workers, employees and students of the university.
During the 7 months of operation of the Reconciliation Center from November 2020 to May 2021, more than 60 applications were considered, including 47 for medical disputes.
As a result of the consideration of applications, 57 mediation agreements were concluded, including 44 on medical disputes. According to 4 applications, disputes were resolved in court.
The Center conducted 15 training events:
- 7 master classes on the topic "Resolution of medical disputes through conciliation procedures without trial and in court" with the participation of 97 people, including 58 university employees;
- 8 training seminars "General mediation course", " Specialized mediation course. Mediation in healthcare", "Courses of mediation trainers" with the participation of 36 students, including 31 university employees.
