Experts: Recovery Plan for Health Care Sector Discriminatory

Bratislava, March 26 (TASR) - Slovakia's recovery and resilience plan in the area of health care is discriminatory, probably even unconstitutional, representatives of professional and patient organisations pointed out on Friday, adding that there is a risk that the Slovak health care system will miss out on another historic chance for improvement. Experts don't like the fact that the recovery plan bypasses private hospitals and the outpatient sector. "Hospitals are discriminated against on the basis of ownership, in our opinion it's even unconstitutional, as people's rights to quality health care are obstructed," pointed out Slovak Hospitals Association (ANS) president Marian Petko, not ruling out that he'll approach the Constitutional Court. Petko stressed that if the funds from the recovery plan are intended only for state hospitals, it will divide patients into two camps. "On the one hand, there'll be those who have access to state hospitals and those who, for example, go to other types of facilities due to the distance," stated Petko, adding that no one discussed the preparation of the recovery plan with the association. He therefore considers the material to be a "political decision". The document is currently undergoing an interdepartmental comments procedure. The ANS prepared 17 comments, of which 11 are essential. Head of the Private Doctors Association (ASL) Marian Soth emphasised that the goal of the professional organisations isn't to sabotage the recovery plan but to improve it. According to him, some of the proposed measures in the document are chaotic in terms of time and organisation. "For example, the recovery plan supports new outpatient clinics. But if we don't have new doctors in new outpatient clinics, this project could be jeopardised because it relies on people we don't have," Soth provided an example. The material prepared by the Finance Ministry is currently being evaluated by the Health Ministry. It registers about 2,400 comments, of which about 1,300 are fundamental. am/mcs