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News
Investment group Penta will probably expand its business in pharmacy. Currently it owns 136 pharmacies under the brand Dr. Max. Now it should get about 40 pharmacies from the network Domov Zdravia. Penta is waiting for the approval of Antimonopoly Office. Contract of sale was allegedly signed in October 2011. Transaction is still not completed. In the case of approval of Antimonopoly Office it will come to the settlement of the transaction.
President of the Slovak Trade Union of the Health and Social Services claims that trade unions are expecting that public hospitals will from April implement the increasing of salaries of healthcare professionals, which resulted from the decision of the judge in the collective dispute. This way he reacted to the statement of the Association of Faculty Hospitals that it will defend against this decision on the Court. The action from the side of hospitals allegedly shocked trade unionists, which have not yet met with such a reaction in the collective bargaining.
Polyclinic in the General hospital in Gelnica will pass the reconstruction of the outpatient care areas and the modernization of technologies. Hospital has already announced the tender. Estimated value of the order is almost € 884 000 and will be financed also from the Operational programme Health. Project should be completed within the two years from signing of the contract.
Slovak Chamber of Dentists warns that patients will probably pay more for dentists. The reason should be the adoption of the Act on minimum wage claims of nurses and midwives. On its base also dentists should increase the salaries of their nurses, but they, however, claim that they do not have money for that. Even health insurance companies did not help them and they are greatly dissatisfied with the increasing of prices for dental operations from their side. According to Chamber it does not cover the act on salaries of nurses as well as the indexation of the salaries of doctors.
Private doctors will not close their clinics from April the 2nd, as they threatened. About three-quarters of nurses working for them, however, will not get increased salaries. Head of the Association of Private Doctors Ladislav Pásztor said that doctors do not have money for increasing of salaries of nurses. To increase their salaries, according to him, will not be possible in the clinics, which have less than 1 300 patients and paediatricians, who care for less than 900 children. According to Pásztor the outpatient doctors would need about € 300 million for increasing of salaries of nurses.
Part of the debt of Hospitals and Clinics in Levice and Topoľčany will be paid by the Nitra self-governing region. The special-purpose loan in amount of € 940 000 should be used for covering of about the half of liabilities against the Slovak Gas Industry (Slovenský plynárenský priemysel). The delay in payment of previous loan in amount of € 400 000 should also help hospitals in their unfavourable financial situation. Self-governing region has provided financial resources to its hospitals several times in the past.
Experts from the Association of Suppliers of Pharmaceuticals and Medical Devices processed a detailed comparison of statistics on the real consumption of pharmaceuticals, development of the prices of pharmaceuticals in Slovakia and the impacts of pharmaceutical policy to the patients as well as to households. According to the statistics of Association the information about increasing consumption of pharmaceuticals in Slovakia allegedly seem to be targeted in order to push on the price policy of pharmaceutical companies. Experts claim that 2nd lowest price of pharmaceuticals in EU does not save money of patients, but, vice-versa, their supplementary charges are constantly rising and households are increasingly financing the Slovak healthcare.
Faculty hospitals want to defend against this year’s increasing of salaries of healthcare professionals on the court. Increasing should be ensured by new collective contract with trade unionists. This year, salaries should increase twice by 5%. The final form of collective contract between hospitals associated in the Association of Faculty Hospitals, Slovak Medical and Social Trade Union and Medical Trade Union was set by the judge last week.
According to the Slovak Association of Pharmaceutical Companies oriented on Research and Development there is a threat of economical unavailability of some pharmaceuticals in Slovakia. This may be due to the Decree on the method of determining a standard dose of the pharmaceutical, which determines the substitutability of groups of pharmaceuticals and states the so called group payment, where the amount of payment from insurance company is set by the lowest price of pharmaceutical in the group. According to the representatives of pharmaceutical industry its result is that there are top pharmaceuticals in one group together with obsolete ones, while insurance company pays the same price for all of them.
Health Committee of the Slovak Medical Chamber is not satisfied with the negotiated conditions with health insurance company Dôvera. Results from the statement of the Committee are: increasing of prices is minimal and in any case does not ensure the increasing of sources by the most of healthcare providers in non-state outpatient sphere, necessary for implementation of the act on minimum wage claims of nurses, by the full-time employing of nurses.
