News

Students from Medical Faculty of P. J. Šafárik University in Košice have declared the strike emergency in accordance to the dispute with the L. Pasteur University hospital, which is related to the termination of the agreement on establishing of education basis. They have announced that in case of absence of mutual agreement they are ready to demonstrate publicly. Students are expressing their concerns about the future that they will not be able to practice, faculty will lose the accreditation and they will have to leave the University. 

Self-governmental regions criticize the intention according to which 37 state healthcare institutions should have guaranteed contracts with health insurance companies. This chosen group thus will be sure to get contracts from insurance companies and therefore also a guaranteed incomes. Regions are asking for involving of their regional hospitals into the terminal network of hospitals. Trenčín region has already submitted this requirement in the frame of commenting proceeding. Ministry of Health, however, did not accept it.  

Všeobecná zdravotná poisťovňa (General Health Insurance Company) promised the healthcare institutions to cover all the operations of its policyholders wainting on the waiting list over the frame of contracted financial volume by the end of this year. Health insurance company Union considers that as unrealistic. Spokeswoman of Union claims, that according to recent statements of state insurance company a high number of its policyholders on waiting lists is directly related to the capacity possibilities of healthcare providers and not with the lack of financial resources. 

Health insurance company Dôvera wants to clarify the many-months waiting for some complicated medical procedures. It has launched the internet application www.dovera.sk/cakacie-listiny, where patients may find out how long it is needed to wait for example for total knee or hip replacement, intraocular lens implantation or the reconstructive surgery on the peripheral arteries. Medical procedures can be sorted by hospitals and it is possible to see how long it is necessary to wait for them in average or how many patients are registered in the waiting list. 

Decreasing of pricing quotations for emergency ambulances caused financial problems to some providers. Decreasing of incomes caused decreasing of employees’ wages. An example is the Emergency medical service Bratislava, where in the first half of this year the personal bonuses were decreased. Decreasing of payments, according to the President of the Association of Emergency Medical Service, Ján Štes, affected all emergency providers. Their incomes have decreased in February due to the change of Decree enforced by former Minister of Health Ivan Uhliarik. 

Slovak Chamber of Nurses and Midwives rejects that the lack of nurses and finances in health care should be solved by the change of education and strengthening of competencies of healthcare assistants. Efforts to transfer competencies from nurses to assistants Chamber considers as unallowable. Chamber this way reacted to the changes enforced by the Association of Medical High Schools in cooperation with Ministry of Health and Ministry of Education in the State Education Programme for professional education for high schools. 

Minister of Health Zuzana Zvolenská believes that state must set the network of strategic healthcare institutions so it could be able to ensure the health care in the case of emergencies. She also refused that creating of terminal network of hospitals could cause the deformation of the market. She pointed out that institutions in the network are excellent and irreplaceable in their regions or they are eventually supra-regional specialized workplaces.   

Representatives of professional organizations operating in healthcare system are asking for ensuring of financing in the department in amount of minimum 5% payment for state policyholders. The aim of this step should be an ensuring of health care for the citizens of Slovakia. This results from the declaration of representatives of professional organizations adopted on Wednesday meeting at the Slovak Pharmaceutical Chamber. 

Smer-SD is according to former Minister of Health Ivan Uhliarik returning the healthcare system 20 years ago to socialism, when it wants to create one health insurance company and hospitals with assured existence regardless of quality. Renovation of terminal minimum network according to him means a creation of list of privileged hospitals that will not be pushed by quality of provided health care, success of operations and satisfaction of patients. Because they will be sure that insurance company have to make a contract with them.  

Donation of tissues and cells should be voluntary, free and anonymous. This is stated in the non-legislation resolution today approved by members of European Parliament (EP). Parliament also pointed to the potential positives of using of stem cells from umbilical cord blood. In its resolution Parliament called on all EU member states to prohibit the granting of financial incentives and clearly set the conditions for granting of financial compensation.