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News
Doctors managed to achieve the higher salaries, cancellation of the transformation of hospitals into joint-stock companies, as well as the changes in Labour Code. Parliament yesterday approved the proposal of the Committee on Health, which should ensure the fulfilment of Memorandum signed between Medical Trade Union and the Government. Parliament firstly approved the proposal of Richard Raši (political party Smer) to cancel the transformation of hospitals and subsequently passed the amendment involving the increasing of salaries of doctors in 2012 and amendment to the Labour Code.
According to daily Pravda from 21/12/2011 small hospitals will probably next year resort themselves to unpopular measures and terminate their contracts with the health insurance companies. Patients are thereby threatened with the fact that they will pay for the treatment by themselves. Hospitals were given into a difficult situation by the doctors' salary increase, which they can not afford. They asked for € 50 million from Ministry of Finance, but Minister of Finance does not want to give it to them yet. Even Minister of Health, who did not negotiate with Minister of Finance yet, does not want to help them. According to Association of Hospitals in Slovakia the only defensive mechanism of hospitals is the terminating of contracts with the health insurance companies.
New way of remuneration of hospitals in Slovakia should be implemented by the German DRG model. German Institute for the payment system in hospitals should help with its development. Health care surveillance authority has concluded the cooperation agreement with this Institute on December the 13th. After signing of contract for three years the works on Slovak version of the DRG system began, especially on classification of diagnosis and medical services. First Slovak versionof DRG should be available by the end of June 2012.
Minister of Finance does not want to give hospitals money from the state budget reserve to cover the increase of salaries of doctors and nurses approved by the Parliament. According to MoF Minister of Health declared that he will cover the increasing of salaries within his budget chapter. According to Ministry of Health, however, doctors will not see any money from state in January. MoH still relies on the fact that health insurance companies will save about € 100 million next year due the pharmaceutical reform and will redirect them to hospitals. Hospitals, however, do not know how to overcome this season.
According to the internet edition of daily Pravda from 22/12/2011 also nurses and midwives are threaten with the mass notices. The reason should be the ambition of SDKU (political party) to amend the act on increasing of their salaries with and increase of other healthcare employees's salaries. Nurses, however, do not want to share the resources assigned for increasing of their salaries. They argue that nobody healthcare workers supported them when they had beem fighting for them almost all the year. If the law will be not approved in its "nurses-only" wording, they are resolved, according to the model of doctors, to leave the hospitals.
From the beginning of the next year the patients' co-payments for medical devices will be reduced. Ministry of Health has finally agreed with the supply points and suppliers of medical devices. Notified reduction of business margin to medical devices by 6.5% will became real from January the 1st 2012. This step according to Ministry means a savings in total amount of € 4,9 million for health insurance companies and about € 135 000 for patients from co-payments. Reduction of business margin is connected with the new Act on Pharmaceuticals and Medical Devices.
Minister of Health Ivan Uhliarik wants to call in 300 doctors from Ukraine to Slovakia – surgeons, traumatology doctors, anaesthetists and gynaecologists. These specialists were missing the most in hospitals, when doctors noticed en masse. Minister argues that this is the response to the long-term requirements of professional medical associations, which had been complaining about lack of specialists.
Slovak Medical Chamber suspects state-owned General health insurance company (Všeobecná zdravotná poisťovňa) of monopolistic behaviour and therefore appealed on Antimonopoly Office in August. According to the Chamber the insurance company is imposing unreasonable conditions in the frame of dominant position. The Antimonopoly Office sees no reason of bringing action against the insurance company. Despite of this the Office is reportedly examining the incurance company's contracting with diagnostic laboratories on unfair business conditions
Childrens' faculty hospital and clinic in Bratislava has a new workplace of Intensive care unit at the Department of pathological newborns. Hospital managed to reconstruct the old one thanks to the money from the sale of surplus assets (€ 371 000), the heritage from USA (€ 77 000) and the gifts (€ 56 000). Moreover, the Archbishop of Bratislava gave the director of hospital check for € 89 400. Archbishop wishes that hospital will use the money for purchasing of medical equipment.
Minister of Health Ivan Uhliarik has allegedly the plan how to cover the higher salaries of doctors. By mid-January he should introduce the solution of financial problems of hospitals that have arisen due to the fact that since the beginning of next year they should give doctors the higher salaries. According to the head of Association of Hospitals of Slovakia Marián Petko Minister should announce the instructions after January the 15th.
