MP PDK criticises party minister

Kosovo Assembly MP from the ranks of the Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK), Bekim Haxhiu, has directed sharp criticism of the health system in the country, sparing neither the current health minister, Ismajli Bridge.

He did these criticisms via the social Facebook network.

Below, MP Haxhiu's full reaction:

For the state of health...

Sa SKUK in recent months has begun providing 24-hour services in Cardiology and Oncology, while the new Inaugurated department, where the number of beds has increased from 14 to 27. For this I thank investors and donors, who created better room for patient treatment.

You know the lack of necessary space in the CKUK and regional hospitals has been a constant observation of all the health ministry leaders. I will continue to be critical even further until the Ministry of Health fulfills its pre-lawed duties.

However, care in the Intensiv department does not only mean providing a patient's bed, but patients should also be provided with proper medical treatment, necessary examinations, and providing medicine for treatment, which the Ministry of Health is not even doing in that leadership.

For me, the lack of drugs from the Esential List remains very disturbing, especially when the families of patients who are lying in the Intensive every day at 1: 00 a.m. have to obtain a long list of drugs to buy.

The same situation with a lack of drug supply and medical rescue material is in the Oncology Clinic and the Cardiology Clinic, where medical personnel are doing their best to provide 24 hours' service, but unfortunately, the Health Ministry is the one that is continuing to fail to do the right supplies.

The Ministry of Health is failing to fulfil the objectives and tasks prescribed by law, so lack of drugs and spending material has been converted into ordinary phenomena, where the basics for treatment of patients are missing.

The Ministry of Health's negligence in the supply of drugs from the Esential List is for any criticism, since the reasons that the Essencial List is under way. This, after ten months of supply shortages and will take even six months, to complete the procedures for supplies of drugs from the Essencial List.

The Ministry may not be hasty, it doesn't care, but the patients are the ones in need, they hurry up, they need drugs right away. Patients are fed up with empty promises and words, like: “we're going to do”, “we're going to supply “, ”, “do...” and “do...”

For the sake of righteousness, we should commend our doctors for the hard work they are doing because they have extraordinary merits. But doctors never had the necessary institutional support to provide patients with adequate medical care, and they were never paid meritably.

Clearly, the present serious health situation is not the blame of doctors, but the blame of politics, in particular the leadership of the Ministry of Health, which was not at the proper level of professional management.

The laws on health reform have been voted by the Kosovo Assembly in 2012 and 2013, but no minister is still able to make their implementation possible, so we continue to have problems with the health system, with shortages in supplies and medical equipment, as well as lack of health insurance.

So far in our health many studies, research, analysis by local and international experts, it is the last time that strategies and programmes approved in order to reform and improve our health system are implemented.

I call on the Ministry of Health to take all necessary measures, to improve this alarming situation, to implement reform, to be effective and efficient in actions to improve health services for patients, to install and grant a universal, quality, sustainable and affordable universal health system, to be oriented not only in treatment but also in preventing disease.

My support and all health professionals will be constant for improving health conditions, being in the service of patients every time.