Illustrative stock photo (source: Archive of Sme)
The Health Ministry launched major healthcare reform, which impacts hospitals, outpatient departments and the profit of health insurance companies, which the ministry intends to regulate.
The plan, presented by Minister Vladimír Lengvarský (OĽaNO) on August 10, will be sent onwards to an interdepartmental review procedure.
Doctor shortage to be solved by 2026
The ministry will now launch a discussion with all relevant subjects.
“We will carefully follow the opinions of experts and the public,” said Lengvarský, as quoted by the SITA newswire. “I believe that together, we will bring all the laws related to the reform to a successful end by the end of the year, so that we can start drawing money from the recovery plan.”
One problem the reform tackles is the lack of general practitioners. The average age of physicians for adults is 59 years, while paediatricians are 61 years old on average, said Jana Ježíková, state secretary of the Health Ministry. Moreover, the ministry's data suggests that the state is currently lacking 314 GPs and 137 pediatricians.
