Pellegrini: Hospital Stratification Remains Ready for New Government

Pellegrini: Hospital Stratification Remains Ready for New Government

Bratislava, December 4 (TASR) – The so-called hospital stratification reform will remain comprehensively prepared for the new government and parliament, said Prime Minister Peter Pellegrini (Smer-SD) on Wednesday in reaction to the fact that the Government withdrew the respective bill from Parliament on the same day.

The prime minister claimed that his fears that the hospital stratification issue might be misused in the election struggle were justified. “This concern is bigger than the responsibility for pushing through this needed change,” stated Pellegrini, who said that if key changes in Slovakia’s health-care sector are to be sustainable in the long run, they should enjoy broad political consensus.

Pellegrini stressed that stratification should influence Slovakia’s health-care sector for a decade. He called on other ministers who have prepared similarly large reforms to strive to submit their bills as soon as possible in order to have sufficient time to gain political support for them.

“Today’s step of mine and of the Government in no way means that we’ve given up on the need for responsible changes in Slovakia’s health-care sector,” claimed the prime minister. “If we have an opportunity after the [2020 general] election, I’ll seek to raise this agenda immediately at the beginning of the new electoral term,” he added.

Originally, Parliament was supposed to vote on the amendment to the law on health-care providers in October, but the motion was withdrawn from the agenda and postponed by Health Minister Andrea Kalavska (Smer-SD nominee) due to lack of political support.

The hospital reform is aimed at providing a better-quality health service to patients, measured via treatment results, with hospitals becoming more specialised.