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Tag: physicians
Outpatient doctors do not want to accept the offer of Všeobecná zdravotná poisťovňa (General Health Insurance Company). Current contracts are valid only until the end of the month. Slovak Medical Chamber, Association of Private Doctors and Association of General Practitioners for Children and Adolescents, which together represents about 70% of outpatient doctors, are asking the insurance company for increasing of payments on the level of 20%. Insurance company, however, only offers the resources from the reserve. Associations therefore advise doctors not to sign the contracts.
According to the common statement of private physicians the prices, which were offered by the health insurance companies, are not acceptable for health care providers. Costs of private outpatient clinics, which arose also by increasing of salaries of nurses and doctors, are not included in the proposals of new contracts with Všeobecná zdravotná poisťovňa (General Health Insurance Company) and private insurance company Union. The representatives of Slovak Medical Chamber and civic association of private physicians Zdravita will meet on Monday June 25th and will agree on further proceeding.
Ministry of Health is planning the changes in operation of night emergency services and allegedly considers also the time limit. Primary care doctors are asking for reduction of their night duty to 10 pm. According to the spokeswoman of the Ministry of Health Zuzana Čižmáriková the Ministry is aware of the problems with night emergencies. Doctors require also the establishment of basic rules for first aid medical services. According to them there is an absence of arrangements of relationships between providers and physicians.
Doctors in Krupina city have not been paid from the beginning of the year for their night emergency service. In January they asked local hospital for 50% increase of payments. As they did not make an agreement, 9 out of 10 doctors did not sign the contracts and hospital did not pay them since that time. According to the President of the Association of private doctors Ladislav Pásztor, who represents the discontent doctors, despite this fact doctors are liable for working for private provider. According to the law if the primary care physicians do not enter into night service they could face a fine in amount of €3 000.
Ministry of Health plans the change in the system of purchasing of vaccines. Currently doctors have to purchase them by themselves. Until December they were delivered to doctors for particular patients by pharmacies and afterwards they were reimbursed by the health insurance company. Doctors in January called for declaration of emergency state, lately they agreed with Ministry on the simplification and elimination of some administrative barriers. In summer Ministry plans to open the act on pharmaceuticals and incorporate the mentioned change into it. Doctors would no longer have to finance the vaccines.
In the case of no increasing of payments for outpatient clinics in connection with the act on wages of nurse, it could according to the head of Slovak Medical Chamber, Marian Kollár, come to the extinction of some of them. He pointed out that outpatient clinics have deep under-financed payments for particular performances. According to Kollár this might in short time cause the closing of outpatient clinics in the case that there will not be such contracts with insurance companies, which could help them to survive. Chamber is reportedly ready to participate not only on the preparation, but also on the support of all proposals and solutions.
Doctors and nurses refused the preparation of new common law for health care employees, as well as the possible merging of acts on wages of doctors and nurses. As was noted by the head of Medical Trade Union, Peter Visolajský, he does not know anybody concerned, who would be interested in merging of acts. Therefore he appealed to Minister of Health Zuzana Zvolenská to stop the work on common law. President of Slovak Chamber of Nurses and Midwives, Mária Lévyová, approved that nurses are not identified with such plans.
According to the President of Parliamentary Health Committee, Richard Raši, the common act for all healthcare professionals solving their salaries does not mean, that Ministry will touch the contested wages of doctors and nurses. This way he reacted to the concerns of doctors, that the protests from last year will be repeated. As he added, he accepts that currently hospitals have a problem with paying higher wages, but Ministry according to him will not risk any further protests.
Medical trade unionists refuse the creation of common act, which would adjust the salaries of all healthcare employees including doctors and nurses. Opening of medical act trade unions considers as an attack to the social harmony achieved by signing of memorandum with Government at the end of last year. Trade unionists are in the case of opening of this act considering the repeating of their original requirements, which they gave up for maintaining of social harmony in Slovak Republic.
Slovakia as the only country of European Union has the biggest free e-learning portal for doctors. It is, however, not available for doctors working in the capital city. This is caused by the rules of the Union, which under Structural funds finances this project. Slovak legislation and the Ministry of Health allegedly cannot influence this fact. The rule is set by the European Union and in the frame of projects sponsored from Structural Funds it applies also to other countries.
