Health: Patients can report abusive referrals to private practices

The Ministry of Health will launch, starting September 1, an online form through which patients will be able to report situations in which they were abusively referred from public hospitals to private practices. The measure was announced by Minister Alexandru Rogobete.

• How the reporting system will work

The form will be available on the Ministry of Health website and will allow patients to indicate the hospital where the referral occurred, the name of the doctor involved, the private practice to which they were sent and the costs incurred. The reports will be analyzed by specialists from the ministry and the National Health Insurance House, and confirmed cases will be sanctioned.

• Denounced practices: "There are no places", "broken equipment", "there are no conditions"

According to the minister, in many situations patients are sent to private hospitals under various pretexts: lack of places, exhausted ceiling, defective medical equipment or lack of conditions. "This practice is unacceptable and undignified", Rogobete stressed on Facebook, specifying that the respective services should have been free within the public system.

• The patient has the right to choose, not to be coerced

The minister recalled that the patient has the freedom to decide whether to be treated in the state or in private, but cannot be forced to pay extra for services that the law provides as free. "Medical activity in private hospitals is carried out according to the program in the public hospital, not instead of it and not to the detriment of patients", the minister specified.

Alexandru Rogobete acknowledged that in public hospitals there are many dedicated professionals, but also exceptions that undermine trust in the system. "Patients deserve fair treatment, dignity and care - not humiliation and financial pressure. I accept this change, no matter how difficult it may be. The health of Romanians is not negotiable," the minister concluded, emphasizing that bona fide medical personnel have the support of the institution.