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Health minister resigns after scandals
Health minister, Patriciu Achimas-Cadariu, resigned on Monday in the wake of scandals in the country's hospitals, including the death of three babies from a mysterious infection.
Patriciu Achimas-Cadariu stepped down as authorities began an investigation into how a sub-standard disinfectant was used in some 50 hospitals.
Prime Minister Dacian Ciolos has agreed with President Klaus Iohannis to become acting health minister, after holder Patriciu Achimas-Cadariu's resignation."Prime Minister Dacian Ciolos agreed with President Klaus Iohannis, to take over the interim leadership of the Health Ministry, in order to directly coordinate and ensure the continuity of necessary measures in the healthcare sector," reads a Government statement on Monday.
The statement says on Monday a first meeting of a PM's working group for drawing up an action plan for the healthcare system was held, attended by secretaries of state with the Health Ministry, officials of the Prime Minister's Chancellery and coordinators of the main health research institutions, teaching staff, specialist NGO coordinators, experts and consultants in the medical sector.
"The group will contribute, under an ad-hoc consultation mechanism, to drawing up short and medium-term measures to increase safety in the medical sector and strategic reform measures. In the short term, the issue of nosocomial infections will be approached and the current administrative approach will be assessed, in order to make the necessary changes (minister orders, government resolutions, legislative amendments) for better preventive control in the area. In the medium term, starting from the assessment documents and the system strategies already in place, the group will contribute to establishing a real reform framework in the healthcare sector," reads the statement.
The proposals will be centralised at the PM's Chancellery by June, and the next meeting of the group will take place on Thursday.
According to the Government, all the participants in the Monday's meeting at the Government House "have said that it is high time for the real situation of the healthcare sector to be put up for public debate and for solutions to the problems overlooked for years, which worsened and undermined confidence in the medical system's capacity to place the patient first to be sought."
Outgoing health minister Patriciu Achimas-Cadariu justified his resignation on Monday by differences between his approach and Prime Minister Dacian Ciolos's.
"I had a talk with premier Dacian Ciolos after he had announced the convening of a committee to solve the problem of disinfectants [in hospitals - author's note]. There were differences between our approaches, and this is why I have decided to submit my resignation. I have chosen to perform the analyses that could be carried out faster by authorized staff in authorized laboratories, so that we can take the adequate administrative measures, precisely to correct things where problems were expected. We cannot discuss analyses performed in unauthorized laboratories, because these can have costs for Romania in courts. Obviously, analyses must be made, but with a responsible plan, in accordance with the laws," Achimas-Cadariu asserted in a press conference.
He denied media accusations of lying on sanitation tests or on naming the concerned hospitals, saying the five percent figure he had mentioned referred to the number of sanitation tests, and the list of hospitals was covered by a criminal investigation; he claimed that he asked the prosecutors' permission to release this list. He also assured that hospital infections were a priority issue during his tenure, and defended the team work within the health care system, "which can be disappointing some times, but it's there for our patients, and it's the only system that can cover these needs under the [present] social conditions."
As controversies persisted in the matter of hospital disinfectants, Prime Minister Dacian Ciolos stated on Monday that he received no information from the Romanian Intelligence Service (SRI) on the healthcare system. He mentioned, however, a recent discussion with Service's head Eduard Hellvig, whom he asked for support.
Ciolos said that Hellvig answered he would send the premier a synthesis of SRI's previous reports on the matter.
The SRI asserted on Monday that it has sent approximately 100 information notes on malfunctions in public healthcare system, including on nosocomial infections, to officials entitled to such reports, namely county council chairs, prefects, ministers, prime ministers and the President. The notes included "aspects concerning the improper quality of the disinfectants used in the country's hospitals," according to a Service's release.
"All these legal beneficiaries have received constant information, according to their respective responsibilities, about the malfunctions of the public health care system of Romania," the SRI said.