Patients may sometimes decide to leave the hospital against doctor recommendation. This act is called Leave Against Medical Advice (LAMA). Although a competent adult patient has the right to leave the hospital at any time (provided that the process is within the law and public health regulations), the duty of care that medical staff has towards their patients obligates them to make every possible effort to stop such type of leave to prevent any adverse events that can arise from that act.

This document aims basically to organize the LAMA process and explain the procedures that should be followed in such event in order to ensure patient safety and continuity of care.