Directors of health institutions, according to the new Draft Law on Health Care, will not be required to have work experience in the profession.
In that Draft, which was prepared by the department Vojislav Šimun, and is up for public discussion until December 2nd of this year, work experience in the profession will not be a requirement for members of the board of directors of health institutions.
The current Law on Health Care stipulates that a person with at least a VII1 level of educational qualification in the field of health, law, economics, or social sciences and at least two years of work experience in management or five years of work experience in the profession may be appointed as the director of a health institution founded by the state or municipality. The draft states that the words “in the profession” are deleted from that provision.
In addition to these two conditions, a person who is not a member of a political party and meets other conditions set forth in the statute of the health institution may be appointed as director.
The umbrella law on healthcare also stipulates that a member of the board of directors of a healthcare institution may be a person who has at least a bachelor's degree - level VI of educational qualification in the field of healthcare, law, economics or social sciences, at least three years of professional experience and meets other requirements set out in the statute. Representatives of non-governmental organizations that protect the interests of persons with disabilities may also be appointed to the board. The new draft provides that in paragraph 2, which refers to years of professional experience, the words "in the profession" are deleted.
The health sector did not specifically explain these changes in the document published on the Government's website.
President of the Union of Medical Doctors Milena Popović Samardžić, appearing on Tuesday on "Vijesti" television, raised the issue of people without adequate professional experience being elected as managers in healthcare institutions.
Popović Samardžić also assessed that political employment has been normalized in Montenegro.
"I was personally present in the room where the Minister of Health was, who told the candidate in front of me: 'Send the program - during the competition for the director, you have to write the work program of that health institution - we don't evaluate it, we do it formally, we just knit it. I'm talking about Minister Šimun," she said, and when asked which institution she was talking about, she replied that the minister should say that.
According to the new Draft Law on Health Care, the Ministry of Health plans to enable doctors who have reached the age of 66 and have at least 15 years of insurance experience, and who have a specialization or narrow specialization, to continue working in a health institution based on an employment contract.
Another novelty is that a health institution can start operating and perform health services if it has appropriate premises, full-time staff, equipment, and if it meets other requirements in accordance with that regulation, but only after receiving a decision from the Ministry on compliance with the requirements.
The novelty is that the medical examination to determine the employee's working capacity is performed by a health associate psychologist, in addition to a medical doctor specializing in occupational medicine and a doctor of another specialty.
According to the Draft, for the selection of healthcare workers who are approved for narrow specialization, a public competition announced by the healthcare institution is not required, with the prior consent of the Ministry of Health. A paragraph has been added stipulating that narrow specialization may be approved for a healthcare worker, or healthcare associate who is employed in a healthcare institution in accordance with the plan, after publishing an internal advertisement in the healthcare institution and with the prior consent of the Ministry.
The document that is under public discussion also stipulates that when directly providing health care, a healthcare worker is obliged to sign medical documentation in person and authenticate it by facsimile or sign it with an electronic signature and authenticate it with an electronic seal, in accordance with the law. The current legal solution stipulates that he is obliged to sign medical documentation with an electronic signature and seal.
A significant novelty in the law is the establishment of the Digital Health Agency as a key entity in the segment of digitalization in the field of health. The draft law, as stated in the explanatory memorandum, prescribes its position, the bodies of the Agency, the conditions and restrictions for the appointment and termination of the mandate of the president and members of the Council, the manner of work of the Council, remuneration, the procedure for the election of the director of the Agency, his competences and termination of the mandate, as well as the financing of the Agency, the Statute, the annual work report, a monthly salary supplement of 30 percent and supervision over its work...
I was personally present in the room where the Minister of Health was, who told the candidate in front of me: 'Send the program - during the competition for the director, you have to write the work program of that health institution - we don't evaluate it, we do it formally, we just knit it. I'm talking about Minister Šimun," Milena Popović Samardžić said recently, while appearing on TV Vijesti.
According to the Draft, for the selection of healthcare workers who are approved for narrow specialization, a public competition announced by a healthcare institution is not required, with the prior consent of the Ministry of Health.
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