Representatives of the Public Council (SC) for the construction of a National Children's Hospital insisted on a single body for coordination between different institutions and for a staffing strategy for the future children's hospital. The unified authority should coordinate the actions of the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Regional Development and Public Works, road construction and the “Health Investment Company for Children's Hospital” EAD, said Prof. Ivan Litvinenko, Chairman of the Board of Directors. According to him, easy access to the hospital must be ensured, and for this purpose the expansion of the ring road of the capital is necessary, BTA reported.
The entire OS expressed an opinion on the need for timely measures to solve the personnel crisis, since a number of doctors and other medical specialists will be needed in the future children's hospital. Staffing the future hospital will be the most difficult, Prof. Litvinenko added. The staffing problem has existed for a long time and the situation is gradually worsening, affecting all specialties in health care, being especially pronounced in the difficult specialties, among which pediatrics falls, said Prof. Boryana Avramova, member of the OS and head of the Clinic for Pediatric Clinical Hematology and Oncology in hospital “ISUL - Tsaritsa Joanna“. The problem of providing nurses is also very pronounced, she added.
Establishing the hospital is not just the construction and equipment of the building, but is a concept for which the legislation should also be changed, said Adv. Maria Sharkova, member of the Board of Directors. According to her, the construction of the medical facility must comply with European quality standards, but there are no quality measurement mechanisms in Bulgaria. A sustainable environment must also be created in the future hospital, in which doctors and other medical professionals work on the basis of clear and precise rules, which means that current medical standards must be changed and new ones created, especially in narrow pediatric specialties , palliative care and prenatal diagnostics, added Adv. Sharkova.
There are also legal problems regarding the status of the hospital and its functioning, the OS added. Council members are united around the thesis that the future children's hospital should be a commercial company and its funding should be through clinical pathways and priority funding for certain activities, said Marina Gineva, member of the OS and member of the Board of Directors of the Specialized Hospital for Active treatment of children's diseases “Prof. Ivan Mitev“. According to her, priority funding for certain activities should also be provided for hospitals in the country that perform similar treatment in their pediatric structures.
OS was established on July 18, 2023. Doctors from pediatric structures in various hospitals and representatives of interested non-governmental organizations participate in it.
In order for the future children's hospital to train students, specialists and doctoral students, it is necessary for it to be the legal successor of the existing hospital “Prof. Ivan Mitev“ and so it has its “history”, as are the legal requirements, already proposed by the OS.
The European Investment Bank, which analyzed the need for a future national children's hospital, expressed its desire to participate as a possible lender to the state, if it becomes necessary to take out a loan, which would be on preferential terms, Prof. Litvinenko also said. The bank will also prepare the specifications for the future hospital, he recalled.
OS was established on July 18, 2023. Doctors from pediatric structures in various hospitals and representatives of interested non-governmental organizations participate in it.
At the end of December 2023, a team of the European Investment Bank presented a report "Analysis of the needs of a children's hospital in Sofia", prepared within the framework of the European Consulting Center on Investment Issues, at the initiative of the European Commission in partnership with the European Investment bank.
In January 2024, the “Children's Hospital Health Investment Company“ EAD – a company established by the Ministry of Health signed an agreement with the European Investment Bank to provide free technical assistance. The agreement provides for the preparation of three documents - Structure, scope and capacity of the hospital, which will specify the scope of specialties, therapeutic and surgical structures, diagnostic structures, day hospital, number and type of clinics, etc.; A functional report or design brief, which will include the number of hospital beds, scope of the emergency department, day hospital, operating and diagnostic rooms, hospital rooms, electrical, heating and ventilation requirements; range of equipment and furnishings.
After the demolition of the buildings on the land designated for the construction of the children's hospital building, a visa for the design of the future site will be issued. When the document is issued, it will proceed to the announcement of a procedure of the designer's choice and the author's supervision of the hospital complex. The set deadline for the design of the National Children's Hospital is about six months. When the project is ready, it should receive approval from the Ministry of Regional Development and Public Works (MRRD), which also issues the construction permit. On the basis of this permission, a procedure for selecting a contractor for the construction of the building is announced. The construction period is 28 months. When the building is built, the Ministry of Regional Development and Public Works must issue a commissioning certificate. In the meantime, procedures for selecting suppliers for equipment and furnishings should also be announced.