Radio România Internațional

Tag: healthcare system

  • January 11, 2024 UPDATE

    January 11, 2024 UPDATE

    Vacancies — More than 7,600 vacancies in the healthcare system were unblocked, on Thursday, by the Romanian government and vacancy-filling contests will be organized in the medical units that have a staff shortage. Of these, 2,500 positions are for doctors. Also, 365 people can be employed in the ambulance services, said the Health Minister, Alexandru Rafila. As a result, all major hospitals that need doctors, nurses and orderlies will be able to quickly hire staff. Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu stated that there will be no financial problems, especially since this year the Health Ministry has a budget higher by 40% than in 2023. The Romanian healthcare system is facing a serious shortage of specialized staff, doctors and nurses.



    Ports — The European Commission approved a state aid worth 126 million Euros for investments in Romanian ports through which Ukrainian exports pass. The measure comes against the background of the increase in the transit of goods exported from Ukraine, which poses logistical problems for the activity in the Romanian ports on the Danube and the Black Sea. The financial aid for each company in these ports cannot exceed 10 million Euros or 65% of the eligible costs of the projects. The executive vice-president of the European Commission, Margrethe Vestager, says that the 126 million Euros will help Romania eliminate the blockages created in ports by the large volume of goods exported from Ukraine. Since last year, most of the Ukrainian export has been made through Romania, after Russia blocked its transit through the Black Sea.



    STRIKFORNATO – Romania and Lithuania have joined the NATO Striking and Support Force (STRIKFORNATO). Romania thus became the 15th member of the most powerful NATO naval force, the Defense Ministry reports. The accession is “all the more important as this year marks two decades since Romania joined NATO”, Defense Minister Angel Tîlvăr says. Cooperation between the Romanian Naval Forces and STRIKFORNATO started over a year ago, as Romanian officers took part in activities and missions carried out by the STRIKFORNATO Command. The NATO Striking and Support Forces Command focuses on high-precision strikes, carrier battle groups, expedition units and strike groups made up of cruisers, destroyers and frigates. Its mission is to ensure security in the Black Sea region, an area of strategic importance to NATO.



    MCM Black Sea — Romania, Turkey and Bulgaria signed, in Istanbul, the Memorandum of Understanding regarding the establishment of a Task Force to Counter the Sea Mines in the Black Sea, MCM Black Sea. The Romanian Defense Minister, Angel Tîlvăr, emphasized that the aggressiveness and contempt of the Russian Federation towards the norms of international law make the Black Sea not only a regional problem, but also one with global consequences. He also said that it is the responsibility of the three countries, as riparian states and NATO members, to make every effort for the safety of this sea, with the support and involvement of the allies. The establishment of a group was initiated by Turkey last year, in August. The activities are completely peaceful and are not directed against any country.



    Protests — The representatives of the Romanian transporters who protested, on Wednesday, on several roads in the country, were received, on Thursday, at the Government, for discussions. Their grievances are mainly related to the prices of Liability Car Insurance policies and the increase in excise duties for fuel. The protest was not assumed by any professional organization, but the Federation of Romanian Transport Operators offered to mediate the dialogue between truck drivers and the authorities. Farmers also joined the transporters Wednesday protest. Discussions will continue next week.

  • Solutions for the health system

    Solutions for the health system

    This is not the first time Romanian lawmakers have to amend their own freshly adopted decisions. At the end of 2023, the ruling coalition announced a hiring freeze in the public sector in 2024. Today, they discovered the medical system faces a chronic shortage of workers, and thus announced the unblocking of thousands of vacancies. While years ago Romanian physicians had salaries similar to elsewhere in Western Europe, today many doctors continue to search for better paid jobs abroad, leaving an increasing number of villages without doctors and municipal hospitals without specialists. Looking at the statistics, healthcare professionals say only Bucharest and other large university centers such as Cluj-Napoca, Târgu Mureș, Iași or Craiova have enough physicians, while nearly three quarters of counties face a severe shortage.




    From the opposition, USR claims there is a nationwide deficit of over 20,000 nurses and auxiliary staff and some 8,000 physicians. 15,000 doctors are needed at national level, Oana Sivache, executive director of the Administration of Hospitals and Medical Services in Bucharest says, arguing that the governments measures to cut public spending have led to personnel losses, creating difficulties for patients. “We call on the Health Ministry to recognize the critical situation regarding the shortage of medical staff and come up with a methodology for filling vacancies over ta definite period of one year, similar to the measures adopted during the pandemic”.




    Oana Sivache criticizes the governments decisions, saying they were adopted in the absence of a preliminary analysis that should factor in the hard realities in the system. In response to such criticism, Health Minister Alexandru Rafila expressed hope the Finance Ministry would adopt over the course of this week the memos for the filling of vacancies in hospitals under the Health Ministrys administration, as well as in those managed by local authorities. Minister Rafila told Radio Romania a few thousand jobs will be made available, first and foremost addressing physicians, including those who took the specialty exam at the end of last year, as well as nurses and auxiliary staff. In turn, Finance Minister Marcel Boloș, who needs to green-light this move and disburse the necessary funds, estimates the problem will be settled this week. The final decision rests with Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu. (VP)


  • Volunteers for the healthcare system

    Volunteers for the healthcare system

    The pressure on healthcare systems is huge at present, all over the world. The insufficient staff and the level of exhaustion of the medical personnel in the context of the coronavirus pandemic have prompted the Bucharest Government to pass an emergency order that regulates volunteer work in medical units. The volunteer students will receive around 500 euros for at least 120 hours of activity in a month. According to the Government, the pressure on the healthcare system is not only caused by the big number of people who test positive to the virus. There is also a reduced capacity to assist patients due to a shortage in medical personnel, triggered by their exposure to and catching of the virus and the small number of specialist staff. According to the authorities, the main structures affected by insufficient staff are the ICUs, ERs, epidemiology, radiology, infectious diseases and pulmonary units.



    Other institutions playing a role in the management of the medical crisis generated by the pandemic also face difficulties. Thus, following the adoption of the emergency order regulating volunteer work in medical units and emergency services, 6th year medical students can do volunteer work during the state of alert and 30 days after the state of alert is lifted. The first orders regarding the distribution of volunteer workers have been already signed. Almost 2000 medical students have signed up for volunteer work and one third of them has already been distributed to 25 hospitals in counties. More such orders will be signed in the upcoming days, in the context of a rising number of requests for additional staff in many localities.



    The Public Health Administration in the north-eastern city of Iasi has already called on volunteers and NGOs to ensure the transport of the medical staff taking samples for Covid testing, to the people isolated at home. The number of requests for testing has increased almost five times in Iasi lately, and the ambulances can hardly cope with the situation. Against this background, the Bucharest Government gave assurances that efforts are being made to fight the pandemic and to mobilise the entire society so that we can overcome this difficult situation. (Translated by Elena Enache)




  • Eight months of pandemic in Romania

    Eight months of pandemic in Romania

    The first case of infection with Covid-19 was confirmed in Romania on February 26. The story of a young Romanian, who got the virus from an Italian citizen confirmed as postive by the authorities in his country, made headlines in the Romanian media. What happened afterwards? The state of emergency was imposed in the country for two months, starting March 16, a period marked by measures that severely restricted the freedom of movement, by huge fines that were later anulled on grounds of being illegal, road and air traffic restrictions, closed kindergartens, schools and universities, the restriction of some basic freedoms, such as religious freedom, which forced Christians celebrate Easter indoors and also the quatarantine or isolation of Romanians who came from abroad. Moreover, stores, theatres and cinema halls were also closed while the hospitality industry was completely shut down. Many Romanians were affected by unemployment, while others started working from home. At the end of two months of lockdown, official figures showed over 16 thousand people infected with the novel coronavirus and over 1 thousand deaths.



    Then, starting May 15, the Bucharest authorities replaced the state of emergency with the state of alert, which has constantly been extended up to present. About a month ago, the number of infections started to go up at a fast pace. If between September 20 to 27 the number of confirmed cases stood at around 10 thousand, the figure has almost tripled by now. Last week, in two days, the number of new infections stood at almost 5 thousand, and even went beyond this figure. Negative records were also reported in terms of deaths, that stood at almost 100 in 24 hours alone. The number of patients treated in ICUs also reached record levels, putting a lot of pressure on the Romanian healtcare system, one of the worst-performing in Europe.



    Since February 26 up to the present, around 210 thousand cases of coronavirus infection and almost 6,500 deaths have been reported. The capital Bucharest, just like other cities, is in the red scenario, after the number of new infections exceeded 3 in 1,000 people. Consequently, starting last Tuesday, mask wearing is compulsory in al public indoor and outdoor spaces, for two weeks. The indoor activity of restarurants, coffee shops, cinemas and theatre halls has been suspended again, while kinderrgartens, schools and highschools, that opened on September 15, now hold classes exclusively online. (Translated by Elena Enache)



  • New framework contract for the provision of medical assistance

    New framework contract for the provision of medical assistance

    The new framework contract for the provision of medical assistance came into force on the 1st of April, but it isn’t until the 1st of July that people will be able to get their medicine at any pharmacy in the country that has a contract with the health insurance system. Similarly, paraclinical tests recommended by the doctors who have a contract with the health insurance system may also be carried out at any provider in the country.



    According to the National Health Insurance House, family doctors will provide new services as part of the package of basic medical services, such as writing a medical note for unemployed people who find new employment and compiling a medical file for disabled children. Also, palliative care specialists will be allowed to sign contracts with the health insurance house so that they also provide outpatient palliative care services.



    Palliative care improves the quality of life for both patients and their families, who suffer from conditions associated with life-threatening diseases. Not in the least, insured patients will be able to send by post, to the Health Insurance House, the documents needed for the approval of a medical device. These new regulations have been approved in the context of the big problems that the Romanian healthcare system is dealing with. Representatives of the National Society of General Practice have repeatedly signalled the fact that in a few years Romania will be left without general practitioners, especially in rural areas.



    For many years now, Romania has been faced with a massive exodus of medical staff, who are leaving the country in search for better salaries and the opportunity to work in functional health-care systems. According to Radu Ganescu, head of the Coalition of Organisations of Patients with Chronic Diseases in Romania, over 600 communities in Romania do not benefit from primary care services and there are patients who must travel 60 to 80 kilometres to find a doctor. In an attempt to put an end to the exodus of medical staff, the Bucharest Government has increased this year the salaries of physicians and nurses.


  • The problems of the medical system

    The problems of the medical system

    The Romanians, who conscientiously pay their health insurance contributions, hope to benefit in return from at least partially free-of-charge consultations, treatment and medicine, and quality medical services. In reality, however, this has not been the case for a good many years. Amid chronic problems caused by the under-funding of the healthcare system and an acute shortage of medical staff, on the very first day of the year, almost 2,000 family doctors refused to sign contracts with the health insurance houses, leaving almost 4 million people unable to benefit from free and subsidised medicines and referrals to consultants. The doctors who have resorted to this form of protest demand the elimination of red tape in the medical system and more funds for primary care medicine.



    The health ministry is also faced with an illegal anti-vaccination campaign carried out across the country. Public health directorates have been asked to inspect the billboards carrying messages against vaccination, despite the fact that vaccination saves almost 3 million lives every year. The measles epidemic Romania is currently faced with must be a wake-up call for everybody, including doctors, the authorities and parents, but these messages are an attack on children’s health, says the health minister Florian Bodog.



    Florian Bodog: “Putting up a billboard with the message that vaccination is unsafe is, in my opinion, a crime, apart from being illegal. I believe responsible parents must protect their children. Just as they make sure their children get baptised, regardless of their religion, so they should also make sure their children get vaccinated.”



    In other bad news, a reputed Romanian surgeon specialising in kidney transplant, Mihai Lucan, and who is suspected of embezzlement and creating an organised crime group, is under investigation for causing 1 million euros worth of damage to the state. He is believed to have illegally transferred to his private clinic medical equipment that belonged to the Renal Institute in Cluj Napoca, in the northwest. More than 150 patients were reportedly sent from the public hospital to the surgeon’s private clinic, where the cost of surgery varies between 3,000 and 6,000 euros.



    Here is MP Emanuel Ungureanu from the Save Romania Union who denounced the practices of doctor Lucan: “We are discovering these days that the country we live in is run by mafia-type groups that include doctors, prosecutors, judges, people from the Romanian Intelligence Service with the complicity of other doctors who know, for example, that in hundreds of clinics around Romania, the patients are channelled away from state hospitals to private clinics. Sick people are robbed of their money and then sent back to state hospitals, where the state is then robbed.”



    The health minister Florian Bodog and the mayor of Cluj Napoca Emil Boc have been called in for questioning in connection to the Mihai Lucan case.

  • The Healthcare System in Romania: an Emergency

    The Healthcare System in Romania: an Emergency

    After decades of medical services getting from bad to worse and authorities watching the phenomenon without apparently caring too much, the Government has finally turned the health-care sector into a priority. Although it is one of the country’s main pillars of development, the healthcare sector has been constantly undermined by lack of funding. However, this is not the only flaw in the system, marred by irregularities that have weakened patients’ trust in hospitals, and, even worse, have put people’s lives in danger on so many occasions.



    The latest scandal in the sector relates to the use of disinfectants in healthcare units. It all started from a journalistic investigation, which revealed that the concentration of these substances, provided by a certain company, was actually ten times lower than what is admitted as normal. Checks conducted in dozens of hospitals have indeed shown that the tested disinfectants did not have the required concentration and quality. As a result, the Health Minister Patriciu Achimas Cadariu resigned, saying that there were many differences of opinion in the committee set up to deal with the issue. The government’s main concern now is to ensure patients’ safety, the former minister has said:



    “Patients should not be drawn into a game where they can get panicked, because this is the only system that we have and healthcare must be properly provided. Disinfectants are part of the problems facing the healthcare sector and also one of the causes of hospital-acquired infections, and these were the priorities of my term in office.”



    The disinfectants scandal has also shown that that there is not even one certified laboratory in Romania able to provide official results as regards the standard concentration of such substances. That is why Prime Minister Dacian Ciolos, who is now also acting as interim Health Minister, has stated that legislative changes will be made soon. Dacian Ciolos:



    “I have called on the state secretaries with the health ministry, especially as over the coming days I will be taking over as interim Health Minister, to come up, by Wednesday, with a draft minister’s order defining procedures regarding biocides. I’m considering several such decisions for the coming period with immediate effect, in order to amend and clarify the legislation in this field.”



    Following recent disclosures, Dacian Ciolos has stated that this sector is a top priority for the Government and has decided to set up a working group, whose long-term goal would be to truly reform the Romanian healthcare system. Specialists have already had a meeting, during which they agreed that it was high time the Romanian health-care sector was brought to public debate.



    (Translated by M. Ignatescu)

  • Healthcare in Romania

    Healthcare in Romania

    Viewed by many experts as a terminally ill patient, the Romanian healthcare system is a constant source of frustration and disappointment. Patients criticise the poor state of hospitals, the shortage of medicine, and the fact that medical services are conditional on bribes, which are often higher than the amounts paid as contributions to the public health insurance fund. In turn, doctors complain about the underfunding of the system, reflected in the lack of modern equipment, in inadequate staffing levels and the small salaries.



    A firm advocate of his profession, the former president of the Romanian College of Physicians, Vasile Astarastoaie, who in the meantime was sentenced in a corruption investigation, said the minimum income of a doctor in Romania is around 400 euros, whereas in Denmark, for instance, it is over 8,000. He argued that it is precisely because of the low salaries that more than 20,000 doctors have left the country in the past few years. Himself a physician, the current Health Minister Nicolae Banicioiu, a Social Democrat, has proposed a set of measures to ensure the required number of specialists in hospital wards, in spite of the migration of medical personnel. On Monday, he asked for Parliaments support for a bill drawn up by the Government in this respect. Nicolae Baniciou:



    “We are talking about an increase in physicians income. Indeed, it is a rethinking of the system, by means of certain facilities, which basically ensure supplemental remuneration for the work provided in public hospitals and for private patients.



    According to the Minister, 100% bonuses will be paid for weekend shifts and working on legal holidays. To ensure round-the-clock healthcare services, he also suggests the system should also include third-year resident doctors, under the supervision of a specialist doctor. The Liberals, in Opposition, do not believe this project is practical. Here is the Liberal Deputy Horia Cristian:



    “I believe this is unacceptable, because the training system is deficient, to use a euphemism. In short, I believe this is a complex problem and it requires vision, it requires large-scale discussion which should include complex measures.



    The public largely shares the scepticism of the Opposition, particularly after the chaos generated early this month by the introduction of the compulsory health cards. Any visit to the family physician, hospital or pharmacy can only be refunded based on this card. People who are not covered by public insurance benefit from a minimal package of services, and emergency services do not require the use of health cards. But when the law came into force, hundreds of thousands of insured patients had not received their cards, and the IT system crashed in the first days of operation.