site.btaEmployers, Trade Unions against Bill Amending Health Establishments Act

Employers, Trade Unions against Bill Amending Health Establishments Act

Sofia, July 3 (BTA) - The social partners don't support the
amendments to the Health Establishments Act. This emerged from
remarks by Deputy Prime Minister Ivailo Kalfin after a meeting
Friday of the National Council for Tripartite Cooperation.
According to him, they refuse to support it even after Health
Minister Peter Moskov vowed to withdraw a provision for the
privatization of hospitals.

The key amendments involve the launch of a National Health Map,
the merger of hospitals into consortia, hospital privatization
and the introduction of a mandatory accreditation for all
hospitals. After being approved by the government in early June,
the changes were submitted to Parliament, but they have been
opposed by the members of the medical profession, the employers
and the trade unions.

Kalfin said that the social partners have a lot of
recommendations and voiced a hope that they will be taken into
consideration between the two readings of the bill.

Kalfin, who chairs the National Council for Tripartite
Cooperation, urged the Health Ministry to submit such bills for
consideration to the Council first.

The Bulgarian Industrial Association (BIA) will support only
provisions that are about the National Health Map, said Grigor
Dimitrov.

BIA supports the procedures set out in the bill for opening of
new health establishments. "Due to the lack of regulation over a
hundred private hospitals have emerged in the past years which
put an additional strain of at least 500 million leva on the
National Health Insurance Fund (NHIF) resources," said Dimitrov.

BIA are against scrapping all qualification and education
requirements for hospital managers but to be holders of a
master's degree.

The businesses criticized the lack of means for controls by NHIF
on the health establishments. Also, BIA demands that doctors
should be limited to working under one employment contract only.

Dimitrov said it has become a tradition for key healthcare bills
to bypass the social partners before being submitted to
Parliament.

The Confederation of Independent Trade Unions in Bulgaria
(CITUB) has suggested a one-year moratorium on the opening of
new hospitals funded by NHIF, said Ivan Kokalov of the
healthcare trade union with CITUB.

Kokalov questioned the launch of the National Health Map by the
year's end.

Kokalov urged that the number of hospital beds and standards
should be approved at national instead of at regional level or
by the National Centre for Healthcare and Analysis.

Vanya Grigorova of the Podkrepa Labour Confederation said that
the Confederation supports the National Health Map but is
against the merger of oncology dispensaries with hospitals.
According to Podkrepa, the bill should be withdrawn and
reworked.