We have to reconsider the structure of Hungarian health care, says Minister Kásler

Human Resources Minister Miklós Kásler said on Monday that Hungary had successfully completed the first phase of its efforts against the novel coronavirus epidemic.

The country’s health care system can now “gradually and carefully” return to its pre-epidemic routine, Kásler told reporters.

Hungary’s health care professionals have gained a lot of experience during the epidemic,

Kásler said, but added that “we have to reconsider our approach to various diseases, the structure of Hungarian health care, as well as the role of national institutes, medical universities, and regional health centres”. He noted the government’s national health programme, which “provides a new approach to be followed by (changes in) structure”.

Kásler said that

the treatment of Covid-19 patients is being centralised, “first to eight large hospitals in Budapest and then to the St. László Hospital and the Korányi Pulmonology Institute”.

He added that coronavirus patients were now being treated in 41 hospitals nationwide, but 15 of them had only a few such patients each. Centralisation is aimed at preventing the formation of infection clusters, as well as to provide Covid-19 patients the best care, he added.

The minister spoke after a visit to the Korányi Institute, where 52 coronavirus patients are treated at the moment.

• Latest today: Three patients die, registered cases rise by 42 to 3,598

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