SaS Calls on Kamil Sasko for Systemic and Dignified Funding of Mobile Hospices

Bratislava, 23 May (TASR) - The opposition Freedom and Solidarity (SaS) party has urged Health Minister Kamil Sasko (Voice-SD) to establish systemic and adequate funding for mobile hospices, with MP Martina Bajo Holeckova (SaS) stressing that terminally ill patients need more hospice visits than the number currently covered by the state, meaning that they often having to pay out of their own pockets when the limits are exceeded. Holeckova warned that mobile hospices in Slovakia, which care for thousands each year, face collapse due to low funding and staff shortages. State support covers only 40 percent of the costs, relying heavily on staff working for minimal pay. She criticised the government for poor resource management while public fundraisers are held for health care. The MP expressed disagreement with the limits on state-covered visits to mobile hospices. "Dignified dying shouldn't have limits," she argued. "The state simply charges people who are dying hundreds of euros for someone to take care of them," the MP added. She also emphasised that mobile hospices save the state money because patients don't take up beds in stationary hospices or emergency wards, nor do they require ambulance call-outs. lin/df