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HPI
Hospitals in Dolný Kubín, Čadca, Liptovský Mikuláš and Trstená will not do the planned operations since this Tuesday. From November 28th doctors will not operate even acute cases and next week hospitals will start to empty the departments and transport the patients to the hospitals in Martin and Ružomberok. The reason is that nearly half of doctors in four regional hospitals still insist on their notices. The most critical situation is in the Hospital in Dolný Kubín, where all doctors on surgery department, orthopaedic department, X-ray department and the department of anaesthesiology and intensive medicine resigned.
Management of Faculty Hospital in Trnava can not guarantee the return to positions of the doctors, who resigned under the protest. The hospital is currently preparing for the crisis option, if notices of 80 doctors will remain in force, reports daily Hospodárske noviny. In the frame of crisis plan hospital counts on the eventual engagement of new doctors to the threatened departments. According to director of the hospital the most serious situation is on the neurological department, where all doctors except the head physician resigned. Hospital counts on the help of extern doctors and there will always be one member of management with medical focus available. So far they do not plan to close the departments.
Minister of Health Ivan Uhliarik refused the memorandum from representatives of Medical Trade Unions. According to this memorandum the salaries of doctors should rise by € 600 to 1 300. Minister insists on trade unionists to sign his proposal, which counts on the increasing of salaries gradually by € 300 next year. He considers it as a maximal and fair offer, which Slovakia can currently afford. Minister is ready to sign this Wednesday the memorandum prepared by the Ministry of Health. According to him, if trade unionists do not sign this proposal, President of Medical Trade Unions will be responsible for the impact on patients.
One of the most important employers in Vráble, company FlexMedical Slovakia, is leaving the industrial park of the place. Company will move the production to Romania by mid next year. Company producing the medical supplies has already informed its trading partners about this step. The reason behind is that the Romanian plant has very good results and will help the firm to become more competitive in the region of Eastern Europe. Company has been settled in Slovakia for two years.
Even after several hours of negotiation doctors and minister of health did not come to agreement on the fulfilment of doctos' requirements. Minister, however, sees the consensus on several issues, such as additional financing of the system, stoppage of the transformation of hospitals or compliance with the Labour Code. The problem, he said, still remains the question of salaries. Medical Trade Unions has a problem for example with the fact that Ministry allegedly disagrees with the legislative guaranteeing their requirements. They also repeatedly declared that they continue to insist on all four requirements, as they, according to them, will contribute to the change of the system. Minister, however, believes that on negotiations on Wednesday they will come to agreement and the health care will not be threatened.
President of Slovak Medical Chamber Milan Dragula called on trade unionists and the Minister of Health to waive their requirements and not to hazard with the human lives. Commenting the fact that it will not be possible to provide even acute care, he said, that Ministry underestimated the notices of doctors. However, he also argues that Medical Trade Union should not have unreasonable requirements. The Chamber has developed its own proposal for solution of the situation in the healthcare system, which includes setting of the transformation or compliance with health laws. They sent the proposed measures to Minister of Health Ivan Uhliarik and President Ivan Gašparovič.
Association of Medical Emergency Service calls for Medical Trade Union, doctors and Ministry of Health to repeatedly consider the situation and reach a compromise agreement. According to the spokeswomen of association the pre-hospital emergency health care for citizens will be still provided even in the case if doctors will leave after December 1st, because doctors working for emergency health service did not resign. However, the activity of emergency service may be after December 1st endangered by the situation in hospitals, where the operation will be shut down. The time to transfer patients to overloaded hospitals will be extended and this can result in deterioration or threatening of patient's health.
Faculty Hospital in Trenčín will stop to accept new patients for the planned operations by the November the 23rd and will take only acute cases. According to Deputy Director of the hospital it will be necessary to release from departments by the end of the month those patients who can be released, so the departments will not stay full. Completely closed will allegedly be a Gynaecologic and Obstetric clinic, New-born department, Paediatric department, Neurology department, Pulmonary department and Rehabilitation department. Other departments will provide only acute care.
Mass notices of doctors already affected hospital in Banská Bystrica. Accoridng to daily Plus 1 deň hospital begins to cancel planned operation and other patients should be released home by the end of the week. This allegedly applies to all operations, where patients are expected to be released by the end of November and only those departments, which will not be able to operate after December the 1st. Patients with cancelled operations can be ordered in a closest hospital able to ensure the particular treatment. Despite of the cancelled operations director of the hospital guarantees, that even in the case of departure of doctors, hospital will be able to ensure the acute health care.
Outpatient care sector is not ready for the situation when hospital doctors leave. Head of the Association of private doctors, Ladislav Pásztor, addressed to government, that if it will not make an agreement with Medical Trade Unions, it should invite outpatient care doctors to prepare an emergency plan. He also stressed, that logistic of the patients has to be prepared. Outpatient clinics are waiting for the clear instructions from Minister of Health, what to do with the patients, who needed the hospitalization and now their operations are postponed. Number of patients coming to the outpatient clinics is already growing and so the costs of drugs and laboratory tests are increasing.
