Fees for treatment at inpatient urgent medical care departments and outpatient emergency departments should be increased, representatives of outpatient departments and hospitals concurred during their round-table talks held at the Health Ministry on Tuesday, Health Minister Michal Palkovic announced following the talks.
They also managed to find consensus on the issue of shortening the opening hours of outpatient emergency service for children.
According to the Minister, representatives of professional associations have agreed on a package of measures to help stabilise the outpatient sector and at the same time support hospitals. However, the changes have yet to be approved by parliament. "I'll discuss it with the premier and subsequently we'll initiate the necessary legislative steps," said Palkovic.
In line with the proposal, opening hours of outpatient emergency departments should be shortened from 10 p.m. to 8 p.m. as of 2024. Fees for unjustified abuse of outpatient emergency service or inpatient urgent medical care should be increased by approximately 2.5-times. The fee in outpatient emergency departments would thus be €5 and in inpatient urgent medical care departments €25.
The availability of pediatric clinics should also be made more efficient by requiring them to operate seven hours a day, five days a week. In connection with the announced consolidation of ambulatory children's emergency rooms, the experts agreed on the need to move them closer to hospitals and on the condition that at least 15 doctors must serve in the emergency room. According to them, it is also necessary to increase flat-rate payments for the provision of health care in emergency rooms, which the department also wants to discuss with health insurance companies.
Among other things, the experts agreed, for example, on supporting the creation of new clinics or the need to strengthen the competencies of administrative workers, nurses and doctors. According to them, it is also important to educate the lay public on when to visit an outpatient emergency room or an emergency room.
The Ministry of Health's expert in general medicine for children and adolescents, Elena Prokopová, and the head of the Hospital Association of Slovakia, Marián Petko, called on the deputies to support the proposed changes legislatively.
Source: TASR
