Old practices in Romania’s Medical System
Health Minister Sorina Pintea announces anti-bribing campaign in Romania's hospitals
Leyla Cheamil, 06.03.2019, 13:24
Bribe-taking is a phenomenon that seems to be plaguing Romanian hospitals for ever. Possible solutions to this scourge aren’t being applied and serious cases have been identified in which doctors are conditioning medical interventions on these ‘material incentives’ they get from their patients. Authorities have raised salaries in the Romanian medical system in an attempt to stop the exodus of trained medical personnel lured by higher pay and better working conditions abroad. Salaries for doctors have seen a significant jump, from several hundred Euros several years ago to several thousand Euros nowadays. Nurses are also getting better pay than in the past.
The shameful issue of bribery started making headlines again after several doctors from the Orthopedic Ward of the Emergency Hospital in Piatra Neamt, north-eastern Romania, were accused of taking money for working out retirement-files allowing people to retire before their retirement age as well as for a series of other medical procedures. Some of those involved were apprehended on Tuesday night. Another bribery case involving a physician was reported in 2015. The physician involved was indicted for corruption and had his license removed but he later resumed activity at the Emergency Hospital in Piatra Neamt. Romanian Health Minister Sorina Pintea on Tuesday said that a campaign against under-the-table payment in hospitals across Romania was going to be run. The Romanian minister believes that this kind of payment should not exist in any medical unit, describing it as a shortcoming of the country’s medical system. The minister wants to convince both patients and the medical staff to avoid getting involved in this phenomenon.
Sorina Pintea: “We know very well that this kind of under-the-table payment exists and it is still being practiced. The latest pay rises should have diminished this phenomenon, but that didn’t happen. I believe we need more time to be able to control this phenomenon; it all boils down to education, the patient’s education or the education of their relatives. This is happening between the patient and the doctor, so we cannot intervene. All we can say is the situation isn’t normal. Various campaigns have commenced in hospitals and maybe we are going to begin one jointly with the unions because we all must assume this issue. It’s an issue affecting the system, so it’s also our issue.”
Bribery is not the only issue affecting Romania’s medical system. Last year in May, the former head the country’s main anti-corruption agency DNA, Laura Codruta Kovesi made public a report on corruption in Romania’s health system. According to the report, this phenomenon is affecting five departments including public procurement, hospital budgets and medical services. The report shows that the phenomenon cannot be contained only through investigations. Certain procedures need to be changed and certain control mechanisms should be set up.
