The petitioner shall: Ministry of Health of the Slovak Republic
Name of the petition:
A petition for the restoration of outpatient children's emergency room in Puchovce addressed to the Slovak Ministry of Health
Text: We, signed by citizens with this petition, ask the Ministry of Health of the Slovak Republic to initiate a change to the relevant legislation so that the provider of outpatient emergency services can provide additional outpatient emergency services also in another catchment area.
It's quare: No.
Number of persons supporting the petition: over 10,000, of which 443 written signatures and signatures with a list of 1,489 persons supporting the petition in electronic form
Date of delivery: 18.11.2019
Date of equipment: 7.2.2020
Type of equipment: Paragraph 5 (6) of Law No 85/1990 Coll. on petition law in the wording of subsequent regulations " not evaluated
Reason for equipment:
On 18.11.2019, a submission of 18.11.2019 was received by the Ministry of Health of the Slovak Republic (hereinafter referred to as "MZ SR"). A petition for the restoration of outpatient children's emergency room in Puchovce, signed by members of the Petition Committee as well as by a person appointed to represent the public authority. The submission was accompanied by 443 signature sheets in the original written version, with the designation "Peticia for the restoration of children's outpatient emergency in Puchovce', as well as signatures with a list of 1 489 persons who supported the petition in electronic form. The Department of Control and Complaints (hereinafter referred to as "ÚKAS") as the organisational unit responsible for handling complaints, petitions and submissions in the material scope of the MZ SR filed on 18.11.2019 designated as "Petition for the restoration of outpatient emergency in Puchov"""According to 443 signature papers, and after assessing the content of the submission including its annexes as well as material and formalities in the context of the provisions of § 3 (3), § 4a (6) and § 5 (1) of Act No 85/1990 Coll. on petition law as amended (hereinafter referred to as "the Act on petition law") registered the present submission in the Special Report of the Registry in 2019 led to ÚKAS as petition under sp. zn. Pet 5/2019, which passed to 2020 under sp. zn. Pet 1/2020. By examining the content of the petition dated 18.11.2019, the ÚKaS found that the petition was of the nature of the application and MZ SR, as the competent public authority, is obliged to deal with the petition in question within the meaning of § 5 (6) of the Act on Petitions, in the sense that the public authority competent to handle the petition containing the application or proposal will assess its content and send a written reply together with the justification to the representative within the period provided for in paragraph 5. MZ SR, in accordance with the provisions of § 5 in conjunction with Section 5d of the Act on Petitions as the public authority responsible for the execution of the petition in question, informed the representative by a separate letter dated 16.12.2019 that he will complete the petition within 60 working days of receipt at the latest.
MZ SR, within the meaning of § 5 (6) of the Act on Petitions, submitted written notification to the representative of the outcome of the petition from which we choose.
- fixed APS provided by a provider authorised to operate the fixed APS ambulance (hereinafter referred to as "the organiser') on working days from 16 to 22 hours and on days of rest from 7 to 22 hours,
- additional APS provided by the organisers continuously for at least two hours on working days between 16 and 22 hours continuously, within a minimum of two hours on working days between 7 and 22 hours, if the organiser is authorised to operate the APS supplemental ambulance.
Under Paragraph 8a (12) of Law No 576/2004 Z. z. the provision of additional APS is provided by the organizer in the catchment area, where there is a fixed point for which he is authorised to operate a fixed APS office for children and adolescents. In order to provide additional APS for children and adolescents, the organiser must be granted a permit to operate the APS supplemental ambulance pursuant to § 11 (1) (a). (f) Act No. 578/2004 Coll. on health care providers, health workers, health professional organisations and amending certain laws as amended (hereinafter referred to as Act No. 578/2004) Z. z.ości), which is located in the catchment area, for which the organizer already has an authorisation to operate a fixed APS office for children and adolescents pursuant to § 11 (1) (a). (e) Law No 578/2004 Z. z. z.
Under the current legislation, a fixed APS can only be provided at fixed points for fixed APS ambulances as determined by Decree No 22/2018. Regulation (EU) No 182/2011 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 16 February 2011 laying down the rules and general principles concerning mechanisms for control by Member States of the Commission's exercise of implementing powers (OJ L 55, 28.2.2011, p. 13). According to the above statutory provisions, at the same time, at a fixed point for fixed APS offices, additional APS cannot be provided as it is intended for fixed APS. Under the current legislation, there is no legal exception to such a rule. Thus, by amending the legislation in the sense of the petition, it would be possible to provide both a fixed APS and ancillary APS at a fixed point, while the organiser could be granted a permit to operate the fixed APS ambulance in a different catchment area from where he provides the supplementary APS.
The purpose of the entire new APS legislation, which replaced the first-aid medical service, was to optimise the provision of a type of health care that ensures the availability of healthcare to the extent of general outpatient care when a sudden change in the health status of a person who does not immediately endanger his or her life or immediately endangers one of the basic vital functions after the drop in the ordination hours of general outpatient care providers. In the preparation of the current legislation of the Slovak Republic, she pointed out that the inclusion of the city/town between fixed points for APS office does not mean that at the fixed point for fixed APS office such healthcare will be provided automatically, as this is not the case with the new APS regulation. The lack of general outpatient health care providers in the territory of the Slovak Republic is also the reason for the regulation. For this reason too, in the new legislation, the MZ SR took part in shortening the hours of surgery, when the fixed APS is provided only until 22 p.m., as opposed to medical first aid service, which was also provided at night. Therefore, in order to maintain the availability of APS for patients, the range of hours when fixed APS is provided is already directly in Act No 576/2004 Z. z. z. The legislation proposed by the petition would thus constitute a legal way of circumventing the legally determined amount of hours at which a fixed APS is to be provided, which would render the APS system throughout the territory of the Slovak Republic ineffective.
All these facts were discussed with the representative and petition committee at the working negotiations with representatives of the Slovak Republic and the main specialist of the Slovak Republic for general care for children and the increase in the Slovak Republic.
By sending a written reply to the representative of MZ SR, he considers the petition to be equipped in accordance with § 5 (6) of the Act on petition law.
Place: Bratislava– Date:10 February 2020