The Verkhovna Radaʼs Committee on National Health, Medical Care and Medical Insurance recommended that the parliament adopt as a basis government project No. 10372 "On self-government in the field of health care in Ukraine."
This was reported by the representative of the government in the parliament Taras Melnychuk.
Why is this important?
As the Ministry of Health explained, currently self-governing medical organizations in Ukraine operate exclusively as public associations. The existing legislation does not provide for the participation of medical and pharmaceutical workers in the formation of health care policy, transferring this right to the state.
The draft law proposes to establish the status of self-governing organizations at the legislative level. It is also proposed to create grounds for delegating certain functions of state authorities to medical workers united in such organizations.
What organizations are proposed to be created
It is planned to create five organizations of professional self-governance — chambers: the Chamber of Family Medicine Doctors, the Chamber of Specialist Doctors, the Chamber of Dentists, the Chamber of Medical Nurses/Medical Brothers, the Chamber of Pharmacists.
First, the professional groups that are most ready for this — dentists and pharmacists — will be involved. All other specialists will be involved only after the formation and piloting of the first two chambers.
The head of the Ministry of Health, Viktor Lyashko, in an interview with the e-magazine "Health Care Facility Management" noted that these organizations will be involved in the formation of the medical guarantee program. They will choose to whom to delegate the right to represent their interests in communication with the state, and will form an expert pool of the National Health Service of Ukraine.
Also, according to him, self-governing organizations will influence issues of licensing, attestation, accreditation, continuous professional development of medical and pharmaceutical workers. Complaints regarding the activity or inactivity of medical and pharmaceutical workers will be considered.
What else does the project offer?
The draft law also proposes to introduce a certificate of the right to carry out activities in the field of health care. The document will be generated automatically from the register of human resources in the field of health care, which has yet to be created. The register will contain information on the education, qualifications of doctors and information on the temporary suspension (or termination) of the certificate.
Lyashko noted that it is the self-governing organizations that will make decisions regarding the temporary or permanent suspension of such a certificate.
An effective mechanism for the protection of patientsʼ rights is planned to be implemented through an ethics commission, which will consider precedents regarding the actions or inaction of medical and pharmaceutical workers.