Health Committee Head Can Imagine Nationalisation of EMS, But Not in Hasty Way

Bratislava, 13 August (TASR) - I can imagine the nationalisation of the emergency medical service (EMS), but not via hasty solutions, chairman of the parliamentary health committee Vladimir Balaz (Smer-SD) told reporters following Wednesday's committee meeting on the ouster of Health Minister Kamil Sasko (Voice-SD). Balaz also admits the possibility that the emergency medical service (EMS) would be under the administration of individual self-governing regions. "That example someone mentioned with the firefighters is very nice. I can also imagine that the emergency medical service could be state-run, but I want to say that in this case you always have to think in a way that you have to measure twice, cut once," he noted, adding that he isn't in favour of sudden solutions in the health sector. According to him, it is necessary to put the advantages and disadvantages "on the table" first and then change something. The Slovak National Party (SNS) announced on Saturday (9 August) that due to the non-transparent €2-billion ambulance service tender, it will propose that the entire rescue system be state-owned and fall under state control, expecting that this will save money. SNS hopes that the proposal will also be supported by coalition partners Voice-SD and Smer-SD. Premier Robert Fico (Smer-SD) stated that it's possible to extend the licences for the current partners for some time and create enough time to consider how to proceed. am/mcs