They are canceling supplementary work at private companies

The draft law on health care has met with criticism from health care workers, as it revokes their right to additional work in private institutions.

According to the Draft Law, which is under public discussion, health workers and associates, employed full-time in an institution founded by the state or municipality, cannot perform supplementary work.

Exceptionally, supplementary work can be performed with the written consent of the director, in one or another health institution, but exclusively in those founded by the state, that is, municipalities and educational institutions for a total duration of up to half of the full working time.

President of the Union of Doctors of Medicine (SDM) Milena Popović Samardžić yesterday at the round table on the text of the draft law, she said that the mentioned provision is a radical solution, and that the patients would suffer because of this limitation of supplementary work.

She pointed out that behind that provision lies the inability of the state to solve problems and eliminate anomalies in public health institutions.

Popović Samardžić said that penal provisions can be tightened, the work of each individual can be qualified by the Rulebook on supplementary work, and inspection supervision can be strengthened.

The Ministry of Health previously announced the control of supplementary work, which, according to the knowledge of "Vijesti", was mainly carried out in private health institutions, which is why no irregularities were found.

Out of 578 doctors of the Clinical Center of Montenegro (KCCG), 225 of them, almost 40 percent, work in private health institutions.

That is twice as much as in 2020, when 110 doctors had consent for additional work, although the salaries of the doctors of that institution have been increased in the meantime by an average of 150 to 200 euros, and from this summer by an additional 20 percent.

Part of the public previously warned that the Rulebook on additional work must be amended, so that the permission to work in private institutions is obtained based on the objective performance of the doctor in the primary job, and not on, as they claim, the free assessment of the manager of the institution.

In the SDM, as well as in private health institutions, they believe that the draft law introduces a bad practice of treating those institutions. Private individuals are indignant because according to the draft law, a private polyclinic cannot organize day hospitals, as it has been until now, which is the case in the region.

According to the planned changes, the holder of activity in a private health institution cannot be a person older than 66 years. At the same time, according to the draft law, a healthcare worker who has reached the age of 66 and has at least 15 years of insurance experience, and has a specialization or narrower specialization, can continue working in a healthcare institution, if no candidate applies to the employment advertisement or a candidate who does not meet the prescribed requirements applies.

If changes related to the organization of primary health care are adopted, cardiology and neurological examinations could be performed in health centers. Dental health care for children of preschool and school age, in accordance with the announced reform, is also returning to health centers.

The Chamber of Pharmacy of Montenegro claims that the Ministry did not accept a single suggestion addressed to that department in the previous period. President of the Chamber Milanka Žugić she said that pharmacists in the system are not recognized as medical staff and are discriminated against.