KDH: Implementation of Deal with LOZ Could Make Health-care Less Accessible

Bratislava, January 30 (TASR) - If a bill stemming from the deal that the government clinched with the Medical Trade Union (LOZ) is passed, it might put the accessibility of health care in jeopardy, warned MP Peter Stachura (KDH), who pointed to risks involved in the plan to shorten working hours for health-care professionals in hospitals and to introduce personnel quality norms. In view of this, Stachura has urged Health Minister Kamil Sasko (Voice-SD) to reconsider the wording of the legislation. "I urge minister Sasko to careful consider what he will submit to Parliament because even though KDH is convinced and wants to support LOZ as well in its genuine effort to have state hospitals financed properly and fairly, we can't agree with every provision, some of which could endanger our patients in Slovakia," said Stachura. The MP took objection to the proposal to shorten the hospital working week from 40 to 37.5 hours, pointing out that several hospitals already have 37.5-hour working weeks, but that stems from their collective agreements, which can be repealed at any time. "If this makes its way into legislation, however, repealing it won't be so easy any more," he accentuated. In addition, hospitals with shorter working hours will either need more personnel or to introduce more overtime, which might lead to reductions in the number of hospital beds or entire departments. Stachura also believes that the idea of introducing quality norms is well meant, but there are significant risks that this won't be properly articulated in the law. "We're about to put a provision into the law that first saw the light of day 17 years ago," he warned. On the other hand, Stachura underlined that the legislation contains a lot of positives as well, such as the carrying out of hospital audits and more transparency in financing. mf/df