The accumulated debts of state hospitals, the high salaries of their management and the record co-payments by patients are the result of long-standing systemic problems and lack of state control.
This was stated by the former Minister of Health Dr. Mimi Vitkova in the program "Bulgaria, Europe and the World in Focus" on Radio FOCUS with host Tsonya Sabcheva.
"These facts have been accumulating for decades. The point is that after their announcement, the state, which has practically abdicated control over the healthcare system, does not take the necessary actions," emphasized Dr. Vitkova.
According to her, a thorough analysis of the reasons for the accumulated debts in state medical institutions and the role of the representatives of the Ministry of Health in their management bodies is needed.
"After these facts presented, it must be answered why these debts are accumulating and what the remuneration of the management is. Have we just seen these salaries?", the guest asked rhetorically.
She also drew attention to the fact that Bulgarian patients pay the largest share of their treatment in the European Union.
"We need to see where there are more co-payments - in the public or private sector. If private hospitals do not accumulate such liabilities, while at the same time attracting investments, then the system is seriously distorted", she said.
"The big problem is in the philosophy of the system, which was built as a market and everyone was turned into traders. This is where this model has led us - it practically destroys public healthcare", she said.
The former Minister of Health also commented on the serious differences in the remuneration of medical specialists: "We do not have any criteria on which to build the principle of salary formation. Cases where in the same medical institution one doctor receives 2,000 euros and another - 30,000 euros per month are not uncommon."
According to her, such disparities undermine the motivation of medical teams.
"Medicine is teamwork. When the differences in remuneration are so colossal, the question naturally arises as to what motivation the other members of the team have," added Vitkova.
She also touched on the problem of re-export of medicines and the shortage of medicines on the Bulgarian market: "Re-export is not a problem today. In our country, the prices of many medicines are lower, and therefore exports continue unhindered. The shortage of over 400 medicines already puts at risk the possibility of people receiving the necessary treatment."
According to her, the state has mechanisms to control this process, but it does not use them effectively.
According to Dr. Mimi Vitkova, the current government is facing a serious challenge and must demonstrate both professional capacity and political will to change the model of the healthcare system and limit the imbalances accumulated over the years.