HPI

Political party Smer does not like the order for modernization of distress line 155 from the time of former Minister of Health Ivan Uhliarik. Contract worth more than € 3 million was approved without the public competition. Chairman of the Parliamentary Health Care Committee, Richard Raši, therefore wants to ask Minister of Health to examine this cause of possible wasting of public resources. He has principal stipulations about the way the contract was concluded. Order is currently being examined by the Public Procurement Office. 

Doctors fighting for higher payments from health insurance companies want to deal with the situation with new Minister of Health Zuzana Zvolenská. According to the President of Slovak Medical Chamber, Milan Dragula, it is necessary to calm down the situation in system and to find different solutions. In March Chamber started to collect the authorizations from doctors, by which it might ask self-government units for an interim suspension of licences for providing of health care. This way Chamber wants to get bigger importance in the negotiations with insurance companies.

This week, Minister of Health Zuzana Zvolenská should meet the representatives of Slovak Chamber of Nurses and Midwives. They should talk about increasing of their wages, which was brought by the new act and its consequences. New head of MoH sees a reason of current problem in the lack of communication. She should also discuss the situation in department with the representatives of Ministry of Finance. 

Since April nurses and midwives have a statutory entitlement for higher salaries. Hospital in Nitra will, according to its director, respect the law, but if hospital does not reach an agreement with health insurance companies, hospital will get into debt. This will start by delaying of payments for suppliers. Faculty hospital in Nitra is currently employing 558 nurses and 38 midwives. From April 1st the personnel costs on their wages will increase by approximately € 120 000 monthly. 

According to the President of Slovak Trade Union of Health and Social Services, Anton Szalay, trade unionist will not be quiet after taking up of new Government. They will immediately ask new Minister of Health Zuzana Zvolenská for convening of departmental tripartite, where they want to solve the current situation. Main requirement will be an increasing of payments for the state policyholders. Trade unionists are also closely watching the situation of the law on minimum wage claims of nurses and midwives and are requesting the competent persons for its observance. 

For now, General Prosecutor's Office has not decided on the initiative of Slovak Medical Chamber, by which they tried to stop the force of Act on minimum wage claims of nurses, which increases their wages from April. According to the spokeswoman of Prosecutor's Office, the supervising prosecutor asked Ministry of Health and Ministry of Labour, Social Affairs and Family for the statement to this problem. 

Non-profit organization Hospitals and Polyclinics, which manages the hospitals in Žiar nad Hronom and Rimavská Sobota, is planning to buy a new equipment for the hospital in Žiar. Estimated value of the order is more than € 1.3 million. Hospital should receive the special medical technique in the frame of project of restructuring and modernization of the special outpatient care. Project will be financed from the Operational Programme Health. 

Nurses in hospital in Malacky, nevertheless, succeeded in carving out of higher salaries granted by the law from April. According to its director, hospital can not fired the most of nurses considering they did not sign the amendments, which would reduce their job time. However for higher wages are not funds, in force still remain existing contracts with the old salaries and if the hospital does not receive more money, it will knowingly violate the law.

Všeobecná zdravotná poisťovňa – VšZP (General Health Insurance Company) reached for first two months of this year the profit in amount of € 31.5 million. Currently it meets the stringent requirements of solvency in the Act on health insurance companies. These will enter into force in July 2012. According to the spokeswoman the business and financial plan of insurance company assumes the modest growth of funds from health insurance as well as the costs of health care per policyholder. Plan also counts on the continued fulfilment of all solvency criteria set by the law.

Medical Trade Union will provide nurses in hospitals with full legal service. In order to avoid the legal increasing of salaries of nurses from April the 1st some hospitals forced nurses to sign amendments to their contracts, according to which they will remain only part-time nurses. Trade unionists advise nurses to contact the representative of trade unionists in their healthcare institution. Legal service includes the filling of complaint to the relevant state institutions such as Labour Inspectorate, Ministry of Health, or their representation in negotiations with mentioned institutions.