Secretary of State with the Ministry of Health Claudiu Damian on Wednesday said that there are over 500 localities in Romania where it is very difficult for a family doctor or primary care doctor to reach, and more than 180 localities that do not have any doctor at all.
The secretary of state participated in a debate analysing the results of the fourth edition of the caravan "Health Comes to You," organised by the Alliance of Chronic Patients of Romania.
"Unfortunately, there are over 500 localities in Romania where a family doctor or primary care doctor can hardly reach. There are more than 180 localities where there is absolutely no general practitioner. The minister wants to introduce legislative changes in primary care and specialist outpatient services so that access is improved as soon as possible. I want to stress that the issue is not only with primary care. We know very well that becoming a family doctor is not particularly attractive to doctors," the secretary of state said.
He expressed hope that the new legislative framework would encourage family doctors to practise in localities that currently lack any medical presence.
"I hope that together, through legislation and efforts by the Ministry of Health, we will implement some changes and offer incentives to doctors, especially general practitioners and family doctors, to want to work in these remote localities, where seeing a doctor seems almost like a fantasy," Damian added.
He also addressed upcoming changes concerning outpatient care.
"You've seen that there are changes coming. There will soon be an ordinance introducing shift work in outpatient clinics, and I want, along with the National Health Insurance House, for doctors in public hospitals to be able to work half-time shifts, because unfortunately, some doctors rush off to work in the private sector. By allowing this half-time arrangement, they could work part-time in public outpatient clinics and the other half in the private sector. So we're not restricting them, but we're giving public hospitals a chance to better fill their outpatient schedules," he explained.
According to Damian, the Ministry of Health also intends to amend legislation concerning medical caravans.
"The minister wants to introduce a legislative change regarding these caravans, which until now have only been possible thanks to sponsors or charitable individuals. We now want to allow state-employed doctors to take part in medical caravans that would be reimbursed by the health insurance house, so we can reach these remote localities," Damian explained.
In turn, Chairman of the Senate Health Committee Adrian Streinu-Cercel said that doctors should no longer leave public hospitals for the private sector, but rather continue their private activities in public hospitals during the afternoons.
"They should be allowed to continue their private practice in the afternoons within the public hospital, benefiting from the same equipment, staff, and other resources," the doctor said.
He added that the upcoming health law would include provisions for online and virtual nursing assistants, a regulatory authority portal, a national healthcare system diagram, portals for NGOs, prevention, and pharmaceuticals, among others.
"If we don't implement proper digitalisation from the ground up, from the rural areas to the heart of Bucharest, we won't achieve much," Streinu-Cercel concluded.
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