Presence of the patient’s escort in the operating theatre

The Act on Health Services and Conditions of Provision explicitly states that the presence of other persons must be in accordance with other legislation and internal rules and must not interfere with the provision of health services. The reasons that lead us not to allow the presence of the patient’s escort in the operating room are as follows:

  • Hygienic/anti-epidemic: The operating theatre is a space that places the highest possible demands on the cleanliness of the environment. Due to the strict adherence to hygiene procedures, it is necessary to minimise the number of people here.
  • Operational: The theatres contain medical devices and equipment that must be handled by professionals. An untrained person could, albeit unintentionally, cause damage, a malfunction or other adverse effects.
  • Socio-ethical: The work of doctors and other medical staff in the operating theatre is extremely demanding and naturally requires the maximum concentration of everyone involved. The presence of an accompanying person, who will certainly have a strong emotional relationship with the patient, can threaten the operating team’s ability to concentrate.

Our medical staff’s first and foremost concern is that patients hospitalised at the MUH improve their health as soon as possible, and they do their utmost to do so. Thus, we do not intend to create unnecessary obstacles or invent complex rules and regulations. Just like those who accompany child patients, we at the MUH are primarily concerned about their health. And respecting the reasons described above will help to provide the fastest and most effective treatment possible.

In accordance with the Act on Health Services, the MUH’s Internal Regulations consist of the Operating Regulations for the MUH, the Operating Regulations for individual medical departments and other internal measures at the MUH.