BRATISLAVA, November 24, (WEBNOVINY) — Outpatient doctors in Slovakia are not preparing to go on strike for now. The president of the Association of Private Doctors Ladislav Pasztor thinks that in the current situation when over two thousand hospital doctors threaten to quit hospitals, it would be absolutely irresponsible of them. “We feel great responsibility towards patients and therefore we resolutely reject any strike activities in the outpatient sector for now; our members will in no way flee before their patients,“ he stated. Pasztor cannot imagine that hospitals would not work after December 1 and that even outpatient doctors would abandon their working places. „So lets ask ourselves: where will patients go?” he said. What is more, also the Union of Doctors-Specialists has announced a protest strike for early December.
The private doctors called on Health Minister Ivan Uhliarik to ultimately invite them to talks of crisis teams. According to Pasztor, they are waiting for instructions what to do with patients whose planned surgeries have been put off. “Already now, what is happening in Slovak hospitals has a direct impact on the outpatient sector,” he said. Costs of outpatient doctors are to grow as they have more patients while drugs ad laboratory tests are increasingly expensive as well. Pasztor expects that if hospital doctors quit, outpatient doctors will not be able to normally work.
Pasztor also underscored that the Slovak health care is not only about hospitals and that outpatient doctors are not satisfied with their funding either. According to him, the price per point and the contribution per capita have not changed since 2006. However they are planning to turn with their requirements to health insurers. If they fail they are prepared to cancel their contracts with insurers. He insists that the sector needs more funds. The association clusters over 3,500 private doctors from all over Slovakia.
SITA