President reiterates support for health minister, planned reforms

Health Minister Leoš Heger received strong support from the country’s president on Friday when the two met for talks at Prague Castle. The move comes a day after the minister presented his reforms for the sector, and the same day some doctors repeated their pledge to quit over current wages. The embattled minister faces a departure of roughly a quarter of hospital doctors if he doesn’t raise salaries. That is something he has refused to do, and he is sticking to his guns.

Leoš Heger, photo: CTK

The health minister has faced difficulties since day one, not only in how to reform the health care sector but how to convince roughly a quarter of the country’s 16,000 hospital doctors not to quit. So far, he has not persuaded many: on Friday, the Association of Czech Doctors, behind the protest “No thanks, we’re leaving”, said in the coming days and weeks that it expected hundreds more physicians to add their signatures to letters of resignation. That would see them leave in roughly three month’s time, leaving some facilities severely short-staffed, a scenario the minister is to discuss with the heads of regional hospitals.

In spite of the fairly grim situation, the health minister can take satisfaction from the fact that in talks with the president on Friday he again received backing from Václav Klaus following indirect support a few days ago in the president’s New Year’s speech. On Friday, here’s what President Klaus had to say:

“I want to support the minister both in his efforts to heal the health sector and regarding doctors who are behaving very irresponsibly.”

Following their meeting at Prague Castle, Mr Heger stressed that he would try and turn around the situation with doctors threatening to leave, saying the main reforms had received backing from the Czech Medical Chamber and that the reforms would eventually improve not only care provided to patients, but also doctor’s salaries. The Association of Czech Doctor’s Martin Engel, in an interview for Czech Radio earlier, countered it is was also a little too late.

As for Mr Heger’s, proposed reforms? On Thursday he revealed four main areas these will address: first and foremost, a definition and division between standard patient care, as covered by health insurance companies, and higher quality – better materials or brand-name medicines – which patients will have to pay extra for. The second aim is to standardise steps taken with regards to concrete illnesses; a third is to introduce a control mechanism on the buying of new technology so that misspending is limited and savings could be pushed towards salaries. The fourth aim is to redefine responsibilities by health insurers, allowing for example, a fusion of companies and forcing insurers to push more personnel into hospital professions rather than private practices.

Václav Klaus, Leoš Heger (right), photo: CTK

Will Health Minister Leoš Heger prove successful, not least regarding doctors dead-set on quitting? He himself has remained optimistic, telling the Czech daily Právo two months remain in which it will still be possible to negotiate; he also said he thinks when it comes down to it the majority of doctors threatening to leave will still change their minds.