Every person admitted, whether voluntarily or involuntarily, as a psychiatric patient to the Stewart and Lynda Resnick Neuropsychiatric Hospital at UCLA has the following rights to:
- Wear one's own clothes
- Keep and use one's own personal possessions, including toilet articles
- Keep and be allowed to spend a reasonable sum of one's own money for canteen expenses and small purchases
- Have access to individual storage space for one's private use
- See visitors each day
- Have reasonable access to telephones, both to make and receive confidential calls
- Have ready access to letter-writing materials, including stamps
- Mail and receive unopened correspondence
- Refuse shock treatment and any form of convulsive therapy
- Refuse psychosurgery
- Be free from seclusion or restraints, unless clinically necessary
- See and receive the services of a Patient Advocate who has no direct or indirect clinical or administrative responsibility for you
- Formulate advanced directives (adults and emancipated minors)
- Have personal privacy respected
- Exercise these rights without regard to sex, economic status, educational background, race, color, age, religion, ancestry, national origin, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, marital status, disability or source of payment for care.
- Other rights as specified by regulatory agency or which are statutory or constitutional
The rights specified above may not be waived by a parent, guardian or conservator. The Patients' Rights and a copy of the complaint procedure will be posted in English and Spanish in a location that is readily accessible to you on the psychiatric units. All inpatient units shall have available a notice advising hearing-impaired patients how to contact the Patients' Rights office.
You are entitled to appropriate information regarding all aspects of your care, including, but not limited to:
- The names and professions of your healthcare givers
- Your diagnosis and/or reasons for being cared for by the Resnick Neuropsychiatric Hospital at UCLA staff
- The risks and benefits of treatment and of alternatives, including non-treatment
- Financial aspects of your treatment
- Access to your medical record, per hospital procedure, within a reasonable time frame
In addition, we at Resnick Neuropsychiatric Hospital at UCLA pledge to:
- Involve you, and, if you wish, a representative of your choice, in appropriate decisions regarding your care
- Protect your privacy and confidentiality, within the limits of the law, and protect your right to receive care in a safe setting and your right to be free from all forms of abuse and harassment in the hospital
- Encourage you to name another person who can assist you in making your healthcare decisions, and, in accordance with the Patient Self-Determination Act, suggest that you consider whether an advance directive is appropriate for you
- Support your right to prompt notification of your admission to the hospital to a family member or representative of your choice and to your own physician
Notice of Informed Consent regarding marriage and family therapists, educational psychologists, clinical social workers, and professional clinical counselors:
The Resnick Neuropsychiatric Hospital at UCLA and Department of Psychiatry Practice Plan receives and responds to complaints regarding the practice of psychotherapy by an unlicensed or unregistered counselor providing services at UCLA. To file a complaint, contact our Patient Relations Specialist by dialing (310) 267-9092.
