Thirty six European nations have unanimously endorsed a common framework of principles for promoting patients' rights. The Declaration on the Promotion of Patients' Rights in Europe comes out of a consultation held in Amsterdam by the World Health Organisation's Europe office. Representatives from two patients' groups from Britain voted for the declaration, although a Department of Health spokesperson said later: “We will wait for the WHO report, then consider it.”

The endorsed principles draw heavily on recent legislation in the Netherlands and in some details surpass those in Britain's patient's charter. Included are such rights as the deletion and correction of inaccurate or …