Human Rights Commission: Restricting Phone Use for Patients in Psychiatric Institutions Violates Freedom of Communication

[Asia Economy Reporter Seongpil Jo] The National Human Rights Commission of Korea has ruled that indiscriminately restricting phone use by psychiatric inpatients, even for treatment purposes, constitutes a violation of the constitutional rights to the pursuit of happiness and freedom of communication.

On the 3rd, the Human Rights Commission recommended that the director of psychiatric institution A Hospital implement communication restrictions on inpatients for treatment purposes only within the minimum necessary scope, adhering to required conditions and procedures, and conduct job and human rights education for affiliated staff to prevent recurrence. It also advised the chairman of medical corporation B Medical Foundation to issue a caution to the director of A Hospital. Previously, the Commission received a complaint from a patient hospitalized at A Hospital alleging that their freedom of communication was unjustly restricted for about four months, including bans on using mobile phones and public telephones. A Hospital explained that the patient frequently threatened medical staff with violent behavior and language, and thus communication was restricted to establish a therapeutic relationship and prevent threats to guardians.

However, the Commission judged that A Hospital’s restrictions violated the patient’s rights to pursue happiness and freedom of communication based on the Mental Health Welfare Act. Article 74 of the Mental Health Welfare Act states that "the head of a psychiatric institution may not restrict communication and visitation freedoms of hospitalized persons except when ordered by a specialist for treatment purposes, and even then, restrictions must be limited to the minimum necessary scope." Furthermore, Article 30 of the same law requires that "records regarding the reasons and details of restrictions on communication and visitation under Article 74 must be documented and preserved in medical records."

According to the Commission’s investigation, A Hospital restricted communication following the attending physician’s orders on the patient’s admission date and recorded this in nursing records, but did not document the reasons, details, or timing of the restrictions. Additionally, for about four months until the communication restrictions were lifted, the hospital did not record the reasons for the restrictions or any extensions of the restriction period in the medical records.

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