The state and the medical system

Romania's healthcare minister warns of major problems in the system, but says solutions can be found.

România Internațional, 14.09.2016, 13:24

The Romanian state does not have the capacity to
support investments in the healthcare sector and ensure the necessary
medication for all patients in the system and has no effective strategy to
attract medical staff, warned the Romanian Healthcare Minister Vlad Voiculescu
during a specialised conference. He also tried, among other things, to convince
doctors to work in rural areas, where some six million people have no access to
medical services. Here is Minister Vlad Voiculescu:

Salaries in the system are higher as of August 1st
and doctors on emergency duty are also paid better. We are talking about pay
rises ranging from 60 to 90%. Also, in the coming months we plan to implement
measures aimed at convincing doctors to work in rural areas, where the population
has no access to medical care. There are some 6 million people in Romania with
no access to medical services.

The minister also stressed the fact that building new
hospitals is a must, given that the existing ones date from the 1970s and even
earlier. Voiculescu hopes that tenders will be launched next year for the
building of the first regional hospitals in Romania, using European money, in
Iasi, Cluj and Craiova, but also for the building of new wings for two
hospitals in Bucharest. Also, Voiculescu has announced that a new mechanism
will be used for the selection of hospital managers, and the assessment will
take into consideration hygiene in the medical care units and also patients’
feedback regarding the conditions in the hospital, how they were treated and
whether they were asked for bribe money in exchange for medical care. He has
also stated that in the coming days a minister’s order will be issued,
regulating pricing and other aspects aimed at ensuring patients’ access to
drugs. More specifically, the order will introduce a drug shortage reporting
mechanism, a stock management system and also a set of coercive measures.

At the conference attended by the Health Minister,
the president of the National Health Insurance Company, Radu Tibichi, announced
that healthcare services are to be fully mapped by the end of the year, for the
authorities to have a clear picture, for every region, of everything that
happens in the system with regard to the need for medical services, and human
and financial resources. Also, Tibichi talked about the positive effects of the
health card, which has already saved 100 million euros in its first year of
compulsory use. Compared to the previous period, the number of subsidised
medical prescriptions has dropped by more than 4 million, and the number of
long-term hospitalised patients has gone down by some 90,000. Computerisation
increases efficiency and control, and it’s an important foundation for what we
are about to build, Tibichi also said. According to him, new apps will be
introduced for electronic referrals, medical leaves of absence and drug
registries.