site.btaUPDATED New Health Minister Intends to Declare Moratorium on Opening of New Hospitals

A moratorium on the opening of hospitals until a new National Health Map is approved is one of the priorities of Health Minister Hristo Hinkov. He presented the priorities of the Ministry of Health to the members of the relevant parliamentary committee on Thursday.

In addition to a new health map, legal and regulatory changes are needed to deal with provisions, which now prevent the National Health Insurance Fund from refusing contracts with hospitals. His personal priorities include the issue of additional payment by patients, as it has increased significantly, Hinkov said.

The existing National Health Map does not meet the objectives for which it was created, nor the Medical Establishments Act, and it does not give clarity on how many contracts can be concluded in a given region, as the map is based on the number of beds, Hinkov explained.

The National Health Insurance Fund (NHIF) has one financial resource, which is not sufficient, the minister reminded. This resource is increasingly distributed among more medical service providers, especially hospitals, and this swarming of hospitals leads to a reduction in the quality of medical service and to additional payments by patients, as the cost of clinical pathways remains the same, he said. According to him, the more resources are allocated, the more people will pay extra out of their pockets.

Among the ministry's priorities will be taking measures to raise the salaries of medical specialists, reduce the administrative burden, effectively use the database and enable the information system of the NHIF and the National Health Information System to "talk to each other", control medical activities. Drawing up the terms of reference for the construction of the national children's hospital is high on the list of priorities, along with the emergency care project, the provision of helicopters, and the mental health strategy, Hinkov added.

To solve the shortage of staff, Minister Hinkov said that the attractiveness of the profession, including that of nurses, should be increased and there should be a more balanced distribution of medics in the country. The state demand for doctors and nurses in medical universities is likely to increase.