Doctors' oppose health ministry directive extending office hours

Doctors have opposed a health ministry directive that extends their office hours to 35 hours a week. Up to date, doctors were only obligated to open their doors to patients for four hours a day. The head of the Czech Dentists' Chamber, Jiri Pekarek, said on Wednesday that doctors' representatives will approach President Vaclav Klaus this week to ask him to challenge the directive at the Constitutional Court. The health ministry says patients and hospitals would benefit if doctors extended their office hours. The deputy chairman of the Association of General Physicians, Jana Uhrova, on the other hand, believes patients would be at a disadvantage because doctors would not have time for home visits.