Krajci: Return to Paper Prescriptions Result of Amateurish Work by Coalition

Bratislava, January 3 (TASR) - The return of paper prescriptions for medicines is the result of amateurish and incompetent work by the governing coalition, according to a statement provided to TASR by former health minister Marek Krajci ('Slovakia' party). "The Health Ministry spent a year preparing bills that came to Parliament in such poor quality that government MPs had to submit extensive amendments to them, and they still haven't corrected them for the benefit of patients. As a result, some patients can no longer use electronic prescriptions; doctors have to issue paper ones," he stated. Krajci said that instead of resolving the situation, government representatives are enjoying holidays and skiing. "Instead of correcting its fatal failure immediately, the government has decided to go on holiday. Meanwhile, yesterday the public was told that an amendment to the law would not be ready until the end of March. This is a mockery in the face of patients and doctors by [the governing parties] Smer-SD, Voice-SD and the Slovak National Party. Instead of making excuses, the government should immediately call its MPs back from their holidays, apologise to patients for its failure and start addressing the situation in the House," he stated. In January, an amendment to the National Health-care Information System Act came into force. The possibility of issuing e-prescriptions for some medicines has been scrapped. This is the case, for example, for medicines whose cost is fully reimbursed by patients. The Health Ministry explained that, in view of the technical-legislative need for the modification, there was a need to respect European Union law on the protection of personal data in relation to the electronic prescription service (ePrescription). It declared that it was addressing the situation in order to reduce the impact on the public as soon as possible. The Health Ministry, health-insurance companies and the National Health Information Centre (NCZI) have agreed to initiate a legislative process to correct the changes in e-prescriptions by the end of March at the latest. lin/df