BRATISLAVA, July 4, (WEBNOVINY) — Finance Minister Ivan Miklos stated on Monday that solving ongoing financial problems in the health sector will be important for carrying out plans to narrow the budget gap and stop Slovakia’s debt from growing. “We have to bring order to the departments where spending is too high and where debts continue accumulating. The health sector comes first,” the minister told journalists.
Further, Miklos said it was crucial to push through laws that are on the agenda of the current parliamentary session, referring to the law on drugs and the scope of available healthcare, and also to implement transformation of the country’s hospitals, including settling their debts and assuring that the process of optimizing the network of health care facilities continues. “It is the crucial thing because we will be able to improve the situation in the health sector only after these steps are completed. I would like to let this be known to all health care workers. I know that it is difficult, I know they are discontent, but these are measures that can lead to improvement of the situation in the health care sector,” said Miklos.
The unions, however, demand stopping the reforms, as they fear that hospitals will end up in private hands and new owners will introduce fees for patient care. They also think that the entire health care system should not be transformed. They demand to first determine whether transforming hospitals is even necessary.
Additionally, doctors have warned that they would take stronger measures if the government turns a deaf ear to their demands. For instance, they have threatened to issue collective notices to their employers, a move that was successfully used by doctors in the neighboring Czech Republic. Health Minister Ivan Uhliarik (KDH), however, has repeatedly said that the transformation will not mean privatization of hospitals.
SITA