Health resort wants to increase the availability of daily outpatient care for children and adolescents. It therefore suggests that pediatricians should be available to patients every working day of the week within their ordination hours, of which at least one day should be administered by 18 hours. The aim of MZ SR is to ensure that daily outpatient care for children is maintained, so outpatient emergency services for children are reduced to 20 hours. If the amendment passes in Parliament, the amendments will apply from 1 July 2024.
Primary pediatricians in Slovakia provide medical care in ambulances for more than 1.1 million children. The situation in primary paediatrics is serious. The proposed modification is one of the measures which responds to the ongoing crisis in this area. The main objective is to ensure that paediatric ambulances are available to patients, especially during the day, and that emergency services for children and adolescents are available to an extent that respects the maintenance of child care in the existing shortage of primary paediatrics. In the current network, we lack 20 percent of outpatient doctors for children, and since almost half of primary paediatricians are in retirement age, their shortage will only deepen.
Even in the evening, the same pediatricians who provide day care for their children in their offices serve on outpatient emergency services. According to the proposal, pediatricians will be available every working day during the week, one day up to 18 hours, allowing parents of children with a health problem to visit the pediatrician's office during the day during the office hours. At the same time, when the proposal is approved in Parliament, from 1 July outpatient emergency services for children should be operated from 16 to 20 hours and on the weekend from 8 to 20 hours.
The Health Department has continuously discussed these changes with both pediatricians and all the constitutional health establishments operating paediatric departments, paediatric constitutional emergency services or paediatric emergency revenues. The proposal was also communicated with representatives of self-governing regions and representatives of the Association of Towns and Villages of Slovakia.
In addition, the Ministry, in the framework of the reform of general outpatient care, is working to strengthen the competences of general practitioners and primary paediatricians, to extend the competences of nurses and practical nurses - assistants, to educate and increase the attractiveness of the profession of general physician, and to reduce the administrative burden on outpatient providers.
