How to protect patients' rights
Source: B92
Date: 24.9. 2007.
Every day the Ministry of Health receives about 70 reports made by citizens that think their rights were violated during medical treatment. The Health Care Institute pay approximately 1.5 million dinars a month for redress to patients. Any report made by patients is unique, it depends on institution and on the type of health problem the patient had. What is common for all reported cases is the fact that doctors treated the patients inappropriately.
In most cases patients complain to the Ministry of Health after the damage had already been made, says minister's adviser for protecting patients' rights Maja Ivetić. Paying for medicines and sanitation material, which should be free, as it was thus stipulated by the law, is the most common reason for complaints.
Director of the Health Care Institute Svetlana Vukajlović says that the Institute allots about 20 million dinars a year for redress.
Svetlana Vukajlović believes there are many such cases, as many patients have not yet heard about what their rights were, so they fail to ask for help.
Lack of statistic records in health care
The biggest problem of the health care system in Serbia is the lack of statistic records - some records do not exist and some are too late for using them, estimated Ljiljana Palibrk from the Helsinki Human Rights Board.
At the round table of the Board and Serbian Association of Health Service Users – Club “Health” about safety conditions in the public health care system in Serbia, Mrs Palibrk said that “health care policy would be disputable without mapped health condition of population”. She also stated that further problems in Serbia were low birth rate, population's age structure and lack of health care and social institutions.
President of the Administrative Board of the club “Health” Zorica Marković stressed that another disadvantage of health care system in Serbia was the fact that Serbia had not ratified the Rome Charter, which guaranteed protection of patient's rights through 12 laws.
“There are further disturbing facts - death rate of infants is twice higher than in EU countries and 155 000 children live below poverty limit, with harly two meals a day”, said Marković.
Jovan Atanasijević, member of the club “Zdravlje” and protector of patients' rights in the clinic “Dragiša Mišović" said that ombudsmen's independence in medical institutions was only virtual. “We are appointed and dismissed by the head of the clinic. Thus if we had any problems with doctors or nurses he got along with, we could easily get sacked”, he explained.
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About
Action plan for health care of Roma stipulates that the Board of Minority Rights Center and of the National Council of Roma National Minority is competent for monitoring. The Board for The Board for Health Care was formed on 15 February 2005, supported by the Fund for an Open Society. The first meeting of the Board was attended, in addition to the board members, by representative of the Ministry of Health Djorde Stojiljkovic, Roma Secretariat chief Tinda Kovac and Office representative of Strategy for Poverty Reduction Aleksandra Jovic. The Board prepared recommendation that were sent to the Ministry of Health and a letter for the minister of health Dr Tomica Milosavljevic.
The Ministry of Health of the Republic of Serbia sent the budget proposal to the Ministry of Finance. The budget proposal stipulated 60 million dinars for implementation of Action plans for improvement of Roma health. The proposal comprised the following areas: Research of health condition of Roma populaton (8 million dinars); improvement of health care among Roma (50 million dinars); program of education for realization of the right to health care (2 million dinars).
It is expected that specific activities of the Ministry of Health regarding implementation of Action plans for improvement of Roma health will be launched this year.
Current issues
At the meeting of the working group for health care of Roma, which was held on 22 March 2006, cooperation with the representative of the Ministry of Health, Dr Đorđe Stojiljković, was established. He is the person responsible for implementation of the action plan for health care within the Ministry. On this occassion the Ministry of Health gave recommendations for further activities concerning implementation of these programs.
The Ministry of Health also received a list of Roma non-governmental organizations that should cooperate with regional health care institutes during implementation of the programs aimed at inclusion of Roma in the existing health care system.
Additional information is expected at the beginning of May.
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