DESPITE international acclaim for Slovakia's reform of its health system, Slovak citizens continue to have a very poor opinion of their hospitals.
In a survey by the MVK company for the SME daily paper, 45.2 percent of respondents said they do not trust Slovak hospitals. Although the ratio of those who trusted hospitals was higher (51.9 percent), according to sociologist Pavel Haulík, the percentage is still very low.
Milan Dragula, president of the Chamber of Medical Doctors, said the results were alarming, and that the chamber "must look for ways to repair the situation". He suggested that efforts by the state to save money on the salaries of medical staff, mainly nurses, could be to blame for the dissatisfaction of patients.
Trust in hospitals is virtually the same across all age categories. In terms of professions, manual workers have the least faith in hospitals.
Compiled by Marta Ďurianová from press reports
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