Specialization Leaves an Ambulance Without Equipment

Shkelqim Hajdaray from the village of Abri, in the Crenas Town, said the lack of doctors in the nearest ambulances is posing a problem for them.

He reports that his family and fellow villagers are being forced to travel over 13 miles [13 km] to Drenas to receive health services, since the same cannot be taken back to the village ambulance.

I've had a case with my mother, because of problems that have tension. When we went to the ambulance, it was closed and we had to make another choice to go to Drenas”, Hajdaray told Radio Free Europe.

Citizens are being forced to travel on miles to reach the nearest Family Medicine Center, and officials from these two municipalities also accept.

Suhareka Mayor Bali Muharremi said, from their municipality, 48 doctors have won specialisation.

We've got nurses, we've got medical sisters, but we're missing doctors and I believe that after April we'll meet (the countries) with additional new doctors and the entire Suhareka Community, as it worked before. It's right about them, but it's done without planning. It had to at least be talked about new frameworks that needed”, Muharrem said.

From the Odas of Doctors, they have said that the specialization situation is a “character”, as they say this process is done without proper planning.

In the Drinas municipality, 18 doctors have won specialisation, said Education Haxhiu, who heads the municipality's Health Directorate. He said they have already launched procedures to complete these empty sites.

There are six family medicine ambulances that are currently closed, which we have also informed citizens to have understanding, due to the lack of doctors resulting from the specialisations which the Ministry (of Health) announced during the previous year and started specialisations with the ministry”, Haxhi said.

Kosovo, since 2016, had not opened specialist competitions. In order to complete the number of missing specialists, the Health Ministry opened the contest on July 30, 2020, to accept some 1,500 specialists. So far about 1,300 have reportedly been admitted.

Medical training is done when a medical student finishs school, but he needs to specialize in a certain direction.

Haxhiu says the Youth Specialists Ministry Health Competition has caused problems for his municipality.

The last conglomerate has upset us, because doctors who specialize in family medicine go exclusively to primary health care. While, these doctors who have gone on contracts with the ministry are in other fields, which we should actually meet after their departure and signing contracts with the ministry”, Haxhiu said.

Citizens who need doctors, if they cannot travel to a Family Medicine Center in their municipalities, can also expect family mobile teams, as they are not offered other solutions for them at the moment.

However, Shkelqim Hajdaray from the village of Abri said that despite the Drensian Community offering medical services through mobile teams, these teams have not responded to calls when its fellow villagers have needed their services.

There were requests in our village, but the teams (Mobile) did not come. Those teams have never come”, he added.

The Drenas municipality has more than 35 villages and a population of about 59,000.

The villages left without doctors in the ambulance are: Sankoci, Nekoci, Vasileva, Bainca, Abria and Gradica with Dobrosevc.

And in the Suhareka municipality in the villages of Nisor, Doberdolan, Greco, whose residents are left without an ambulance due to the departure of doctors.