As others have said, if a patient has next of kin or emergency contact details listed somewhere accessible to the hospital, they may call if the contact can provide information that the patient can’t, especially if the patient is unconscious or delirious.
Of course, if the patient is otherwise aware and apparently of sound mind, then the patient can literally say “please do not contact my family / next of kin”. The hospital might say they weren’t going to, but no harm in asking. And if they do so anyway once they’ve been told not to, that’d be risking a lawsuit.
Anecdotally, I’ve always carried a next-of-kin card in my wallet, and it has come to my aid at least once.
The person or people on such a card don’t have to be parents either. A trusted friend or sibling might be preferable for people who don’t get along with, or no longer have, their parents.
As others have said, if a patient has next of kin or emergency contact details listed somewhere accessible to the hospital, they may call if the contact can provide information that the patient can’t, especially if the patient is unconscious or delirious.
Of course, if the patient is otherwise aware and apparently of sound mind, then the patient can literally say “please do not contact my family / next of kin”. The hospital might say they weren’t going to, but no harm in asking. And if they do so anyway once they’ve been told not to, that’d be risking a lawsuit.
Anecdotally, I’ve always carried a next-of-kin card in my wallet, and it has come to my aid at least once.
The person or people on such a card don’t have to be parents either. A trusted friend or sibling might be preferable for people who don’t get along with, or no longer have, their parents.