Socialists to file data request on health care irregularities

The opposition Socialist Party’s Lajos Korozs on Friday said he will submit a request for public data to the State Audit Office (ÁSZ) regarding irregularities uncovered in Hungary’s healthcare sector.

Speaking at a press conference, Korozs noted that earlier this month, László Domokos, ÁSZ’s head, said in an interview and a statement that

an ÁSZ audit of hospitals and health clinics had found their financial management to be often “scandalous and chaotic”, read more HERE.

The politician said he wanted to know which hospitals and health clinics ÁSZ has detected corruption in, who were involved in it, which institutions were found to be providing poor quality treatment to patients and which ones had poor financial management.

He said he also wanted to know what measures ÁSZ has taken to ensure that the irregularities are dealt with.

Korozs added that

“the damage being done in the health care sector” was causing patients to lose trust in health institutions.

He said he had yet to receive a reply to a letter he had sent to the human resources minister asking whether Miklos Kasler had contacted Zoltán Balog, his predecessor, over ÁSZ’s findings. Korozs said he also had not received a reply to his question asking how much the irregularities had cost taxpayers and whom ÁSZ’s findings of corruption concerned. Neither has the ministry revealed whether it has filed any criminal complaints or launched any investigations over the findings of the audit, he added.

Korozs added, however, that the Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office has tasked the Budapest prosecutor’s office with looking into the audit’s findings.

As we wrote before, the indebtedness of Hungarian hospitals grows enormously fast, by HUF 3.5 billion (EUR 10 million) each month. The Hungarian State Treasury claims that the total debt value has reached HUF 38 billion (EUR 117 million) – nevertheless, the government states that the health care system is properly financed, read more HERE.

Source: MTI