Page 167 - Human Rights

Faculty of Nursing
Adult care Nursing Department

Regulation can play a major role in this setting by guaranteeing that patients are informed of their

clinical conditions and associated options.

At a macro level, this relates to the concept of democratic and transparent processes and

promotes the participation of the society who, in accordance with its unanimously shared values,
has the wisdom required to decide on issues such as establishing priorities in healthcare and on

other topics of social importance.

From a political philosophy perspective, the term accountability has two distinct, though related,

aspects. Public accountability refers to the duty to involve both society in general and the citizen
in decisions related to healthcare.

Thus, health care organizations are obligated to provide data and indicators so that citizens can
make informed choices (Daniels and Sabin 1997).

Democratic accountability refers to the process by which healthcare institutions, whether

government, hospital, or an individual provider, are accountable to society.

This may involve submit ting periodic reports, performing internal and external audits, or even

justifying determined courses of action, for example, when the adoption of guidelines for clinical
practice is at stake.

Accountability also refers to the principle of autonomy, not only at the individual level but also

collectively; social autonomy refers to the institutions with (or without) democratic legitimacy and

the promotion of the right to information of each and every citizen.

There does not seem to be an alternative since in a pluralistic and democratic society, no manager

can meet the expectations of every cultural group; this is an indispensable factor in promoting

social cohesion.

145 Academic Year 2025/2026