Shocking increase in anti-vaxxer parents in Hungary
Fatal childhood diseases may return if the number of anti-vaxxer parents continues to grow in Hungary. There is already an organisation providing legal and medical advice to these parents on how to sue doctors.
Anti-vaxxer doctors cannot be excluded anymore
According to the General Secretary of the Hungarian Paediatric Association, one in every five children died before compulsory vaccination for childhood diseases like pertussis and diphtheria. Even so, the number of anti-vaxxer parents is skyrocketing in Hungary, which may lead to future tragedies.
Based on the information from the Hungarian Medical Chamber (MOK), parents are suing doctors over compulsory vaccination. They receive legal and medical assistance from anti-vaxxer doctors and lawyers. Péter Álmos, the president of MOK, mentioned that these doctors and lawyers coach parents on what to say to extract incriminating statements from the doctors. Mr Álmos added that the government has abolished compulsory MOK membership, preventing them from excluding anti-vaxxer doctors.
Hungarian party behind anti-vaxxer parents?
Tamás Svéd, the General Secretary of the chamber, stated that some doctors are attempting to gain personal and political advantages by campaigning against vaccination. It has been reported multiple times that Mi Hazánk (Our Homeland), a right-wing radical party in Hungary, has also campaigned against compulsory COVID-19 vaccination.
This activity may have encouraged vaccine hesitancy. Magyar Nemzet, a government-aligned daily, reported that the party could be behind the increase in anti-vaxxer parents. The paper noted that the number of exemptions from compulsory childhood vaccinations rose to 96 in 2024, compared to only 19 in 2021.
RTL Klub reported that the number of pertussis patients has increased over the last few years from 10 to 70. Experts believe that this is partly due to fewer people being vaccinated against it in neighbouring countries compared to Hungary.
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Major changes coming to patient care in Budapest in the autumn
The new on-call system will be launched in the capital, Budapest, in October, Minister of State for Health Péter Takács told a conference. The detailed decree will be published in the Hungarian Gazette on 10 June.
New on-call system in Budapest soon
The new on-call system will be launched in Budapest in October, Péter Takács said at a conference organised by the GPs Online Organisation on Friday, Economx reports.
Attila Keczéry, a GP from Zugló, who was present at the conference, confirmed the information of Takács to 24.hu. Keczéry added that the Minister of State did not give any details other than the date of introduction, only that the decree will be published in the Hungarian Gazette on the day after the election, i.e. on Monday.
The new on-call system was launched in Hajdú-Bihar County on 1 February last year, after a one-and-a-half-year trial period. Due to its complexity, the capital is the last place where the on-call service is being restructured.
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Emergency alert: Hospital debts skyrocket over EUR 250 million in Hungary
Hospital debts soared past HUF 100 billion (EUR 251,667,000) by the end of February in Hungary, leading to a temporary closure of hospital wards according to medical equipment suppliers who spoke at a joint press conference on Thursday.
The three prominent professional organisations: the Association of Healthcare and Technology and Medical Technology Suppliers, the Hungarian Manufacturers and Service Providers Accredited Innovation Cluster, and the Medical Technology Association are urging the government to address the overdue debts of hospitals swiftly. According to Telex, they emphasise the critical need for prompt coverage and full settlement of these debts to ensure uninterrupted healthcare services.
The concerns raised by the organisations
László Rásky, Secretary General of the Medical Technology Association, noted that by the end of last year, the government had settled HUF 90 billion (EUR 225 million) out of the HUF 130 billion (EUR 325.2 million) debt of the health sector. However, in January, the hospitals’ debt surged back up to over HUF 83 Billion (EUR 207.6 million).
László also stated that professional organisations representing medical technology suppliers will approach the State Audit Office of Hungary. This decision comes after suppliers’ experiences showed that many institutions fail to settle the late payment interest that companies officially notify them of.
On Thursday, the foremost representative organisations of Hungary’s medical technology sector once again raised concerns about hospital’s debts during a joint press conference. During the press briefing, László Rásky stated the following:
It is a decades-old problem, which we have already told you all about.
Hospital wards closing due to debt
The professional organisations expressed concern that despite recent efforts to consolidate, the situation has deteriorated. Suppliers are struggling to sustain themselves without regular income and are even facing job cuts.
Tamás Rádai, director of the Association of Healthcare Technology and Medical Technology Suppliers, highlighted that hospital debts are affecting the healthcare sector, leading to temporary closures of departments and disruptions in equipment supply which is accountable for 10 to 15% of suspensions.
The director also criticised the state’s requirement for suppliers to pay VAT upfront which creates an uncertainty about when they will receive payment for their goods.
What about the government?
State Secretary for Healthcare Péter Takács pledged in early February to continue the consolidation process initiated in November, which would involve allocating additional funds to clear hospital debts. László Rásky stated the following in the press conference about this situation:
To date, the March consolidation has not taken place and we have not received a reply from the Ministry of Interior to our repeated requests.
However, experts revealed during the recent briefing for medical sector representatives that a month after the announcement, there was no update regarding the March bailout for hospitals. This lack of progress has raised concerns about the challenging situation faced by companies supplying medical equipment, according to 24.hu.
Read also:
- Hungarian police’s decision about the allegedly overpriced Chinese ventilators bought by Orbán – HERE
- Grim survey results: Hungary least happy country in the region – HERE
Will Hungary allow assisted suicide?
Opposition parties on Thursday said they have submitted to parliament an amendment proposal aimed at “creating the freedom to make end-of-life decisions”.
Tímea Szabó, the co-leader of Párbeszéd, told a press conference that her party, Momentum and the Socialist Party have initiated an amendment to the Penal Code’s section on aiding and abetting suicide.
Under the opposition’s bill, individuals who assist in the end-of-life decision of a fully legally capable but terminally ill person whose “suffering is incompatible with human dignity” would not be criminally liable, Szabó said.
She said that whereas under the current law, an individual who participates in assisted suicide is criminally liable, if the opposition’s bill is passed, they would not be punishable either in Hungary or abroad.
Szabó said the parties had made sure to draft the law in a way that eliminates the possibility of abuse, and the terminally ill patient’s decision would have to be recorded in a notarial deed.
She expressed hope that the ruling parties would back the bill.
Rebeka Szabó, Párbeszéd’s other co-leader, noted that a terminally ill constitutional lawyer and his brother had submitted a referendum bid in the matter, but their question had been rejected by the National Election Committee, and they were now awaiting a ruling by the Kuria, Hungary’s supreme court.
She said public opinion polls showed that more than two-thirds of Hungarians support giving terminally ill people the freedom to decide to end their life.
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4 critical instances when the Hungarian state failed its citizens
The failures of the Hungarian state, tightly controlled by the government, extend beyond child protection to areas such as assistance for Ukrainian refugees, healthcare and education. At a recent mass demonstration in Hungary, a prevailing sentiment was the belief that the state has failed its citizens.
Childcare
Edina Pottyondy, a prominent YouTuber and organiser of the event, voiced concerns about the failure to address child abuse and protect children. She cited the scandal involving Katalin Novák, the former head of state, Judit Varga, the former Minister of Justice and Zoltán Balog, former bishop of the Reformed Church and their handling of pardons. Zsolt Osváth, another YouTuber and organiser of the protest, highlighted that children in institutions receive only HUF 72,000 (EUR 186) annually for clothing and bedding. The organisers (including Márton Gulyás, activist, and YouTuber) revealed the establishment of a fund in collaboration with the Street to Home Association to assist an abused boy who had become homeless upon leaving state care. According to RTL, their goal was to raise HUF 25 million (EUR 64,613) by Sunday for his housing and support, which they surpassed, collecting a total amount of HUF 204 million (EUR 527,242). The conclusion of this whole situation is that:
Civil society stepped in where the government and state failed to address the issue at hand, highlighting a significant gap in responsibility.
Welcoming of refugees
Two years ago, when Russia invaded Ukraine, the government’s delayed response left refugees in limbo. By the time the BOK hall was designated to shelter them, the influx had subsided. Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s visit to refugees in Debrecen, where he famously told a Ukrainian woman “I am glad to see you,” highlighted the government’s disarray in handling the crisis. In contrast, civilians in the Keleti Railway Station stepped up, organising aid seamlessly and efficiently. This scenario was similar to the response during the unprecedented refugee wave in 2015, where private individuals and NGOs mobilised to provide care, reception and information to refugees.
A failing healthcare
The healthcare sector is another domain where the state consistently fails to fulfill its obligations. Recent reform attempts have been insufficient; for instance, in December alone, patients had to endure waiting times of 387 days for hip replacement surgery in Tolna County, 448 days for corneal surgery nationwide, and a staggering 726 days for knee replacement surgery in Szombathely (Vas County). Recently, Péter Álmos, President of the Hungarian Medical Chamber, highlighted Hungary’s ongoing transition in public healthcare. Proposed alterations in smaller hospitals could result in limited availability of acute care, potentially posing challenges for timely and suitable treatment, particularly in areas with varying geographical conditions. He also expressed concerns about the healthcare system’s future and encourages individuals to consider “self-care,” meaning that besides contributing to social security, having private insurance could prove beneficial in the future.
Educational system
In the educational system, public failures are evident, indicating an alarming trend. Parents navigating school choices for their children must inquire about essential aspects of prospective institutions, including the availability of teachers for crucial subjects like physics, chemistry and mathematics. Moreover, questions regarding contributions to class funds for basic necessities like toilet paper and classroom renovations are necessary. Recent concerns extend to inquiries about funding for classroom air-conditioning to ensure a conducive learning environment. These responsibilities should fall under the jurisdiction of the government, as mandated in the Fundamental Law, which guarantees primary and secondary education for free. However, consistent administrative shortcomings highlight the state’s inability to fulfil its educational duties effectively.
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Hungarian minister announces end of public-private healthcare divide
During a conference hosted by the Hungarian Hospital Association, Péter Takács, the Minister of State for Health, declared the conclusion of the division between public and private healthcare. With an air of anticipation, the minister outlined the government’s forthcoming plans to regulate their harmonious coexistence. Furthermore, the minister underscored the imminent need for governmental intervention to determine the inclusion of specific private healthcare providers within publicly funded care in the long run.
Key points from the conference
At the conference, Péter Takács highlighted Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s intention to restore the insurance role of NEAK (National Health Insurance Fund Management Agency) during the January cabinet meeting according to Portfolio. Currently, the State Secretariat is working on this initiative with an emphasis on maintaining NEAK’s dominance over the insurance market while keeping it shielded from private interests. Péter Takács highlighted the forthcoming implementation of stronger control and service purchasing functions for NEAK, with new regulatory frameworks being developed.
Once these are established the government plans to transition to sector-neutral funding, marking a novel approach towards the private sector. The Minister mentioned that moving forward would necessitate a government decision regarding which private providers would be included in publicly funded care in the long term. As soon as this decision is made, wage subsidies can be integrated into the financing and sector-neutral financing can be introduced. Furthermore, Takács highlighted the imperative of defining the scope of reimbursable benefits, clarifying that funding allocation to private providers will not be contingent on waiting lists, whilst reminding stakeholders of the existing social security funding allocated to certain private entities.
Reaction to the announcement
The health section of the National Association of Entrepreneurs and Employers (VOSZ) welcomed Minister of State Péter Takács’ announcement regarding NEAK’s transition towards a genuine insurance-centric funding model and the pursuit of sector neutrality. VOSZ considers these measures pivotal and advantageous, provided that the detailed regulations guarantee the effectiveness and practicality of the new system, as per Portfolio.
The health section also expressed long-standing advocacy for the notion of elevating healthcare standards and accessibility by empowering individuals to opt for reputable private providers for specific services. They believe that this approach will validate the contributions of Hungarian citizens towards social security while alleviating strain on the state healthcare apparatus, particularly in domains like orthopaedic and obstetric care.
However, the organisation represented by Lajos Fábián, co-president of VOSZ and president of its Health Section stresses the need for further clarification on various aspects, highlighting the complexity inherent in the details of the proposed changes. They present several critical inquiries regarding the restructuring of NEAK, encompassing concerns such as NEAK’s contracting procedures for waiting list benefits and other services, the uniformity of reimbursement rates for all contractors and providers as well as the management of provider funding during the transition phase and the timeline for NEAK’s transformation into a genuine insurer.
Furthermore, deliberations extend to the potential establishment of a foundational healthcare package, financing of uncovered services and ensuring unfettered access to eligible services for applicants. Questions also probe the feasibility of fostering provider competition predicated on quality and achieving sector neutrality in complication reimbursement.
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SMA screening to continue in Hungary
Hungary’s health service will continue to offer screening newborn babies for SMA, the head of the Prime Minister’s Office told a regular press briefing on Thursday, adding that the central budget had allocated a total 450 million forints (EUR 1.17m) for this purpose in 2024.
Gergely Gulyás said the screenings would continue to be offered at Szeged University, at Budapest’s Semmelweis University and at the Bethesda Paediatric Hospital “to each baby if requested”.
Read also:
- Hungarian Govt to raise nurses’ and teachers’ wages
- Hungarian healthcare system is dying, with waiting lists for some surgeries lasting almost 7 years
On another subject, Gulyás said the government had authorised the minister of transport to elaborate on details of the rules governing transport passes facilitated under an agreement between the government and the city of Budapest. He said the changes, effective from March 1, would “benefit everybody”.
Concerning press reports suggesting that an Italian suspect in the Antifa attacks was being held in demeaning conditions in a Budapest prison, Gulyás said all conditions met European Union and Hungarian requirements. He added that the reports had been aimed to defame Hungary.
Hungarian healthcare system is dying, with waiting lists for some surgeries lasting almost 7 years
The Hungarian healthcare system faces critically long waiting lists, and here’s what you should know about them.
According to the State Secretary of Health, the length of waiting lists has become a political product. He added that this will soon come to an end as there’s an observably significant reduction. The State Secretary is currently quite satisfied with the healthcare statistics, but we found that there are medical treatments for which one has to wait for 6 years and 9 months. Now, we’re offering you an in-depth look into the current situation of the Hungarian healthcare industry.
Low productivity, long waiting list
At the end of last year, there were 41,500 insured individuals on waiting lists, and 23,000 of them had appointments beyond 60 days.
The issue of waiting lists has been a recurring problem for almost twenty years now. One would expect that the worst-performing institutions would be trying desperately to remove themselves from the bottom of the lists, but that’s not the case. In the last six months, there were thirteen hospitals where they performed fewer than 100 knee replacement surgeries in half a year. The same is true for hip replacement surgeries.
The difference is even more shocking when compared with the hidden success story of Hungarian healthcare: in recent times, most cataract surgery waiting lists have disappeared, going from long years to only a few months.
High debts and costy procedures
The success of the cataract surgeries might be surprising because the three interventions analysed in our article have a common point of needing a high-value device to be implanted into the patient. According to hospital management experts, this significantly lengthens the waiting lists.
The second reason identified is the financial constraint, meaning the difficulty in procuring high-value prosthetics due to the indebtedness of hospitals. The debt load of hospitals and lack of budget puts enormous pressure on institutions not to invest in these devices and thus increase their unpaid bills.
This could also interest you:
- Patience advised: extremely long waiting times in Hungarian healthcare sector, details HERE.
- Time to save for private care? Hungarian state pulling out of healthcare, details HERE.
Lack of financial motivation
As a third reason, we identified the impact of gratitude money (hálapénz). For patients, this was quite significant, especially in orthopedics, where doctors used to receive substantial amounts of additional payments. The elimination of these informal payments caused a significant drop in their income, even if their legal salaries increased. Now, they attempt to compensate for these losses from private practice, reducing the number of potential specialists in the public sector.
Staff shortages
Major prosthetic surgeries are extremely complex interventions, requiring the involvement of several different healthcare professionals. According to valaszonline.hu, it’s not just the specialists that are missing, but other staff too. There is a significant shortage of operating room nurses, surgical assistants, and even patient transporters. If any part of the system breaks down, it affects the waiting lists.
Overall healthcare situation
In many places, surgical departments have been discontinued, leading patients with minor surgeries to concentrate in large centers. Therefore, waiting lists may grow even if large hospitals perform more surgeries than before. Lists would likely shorten if performance-based bonuses were allowed for the entire team. Of course, waiting times do not grow indefinitely. Patients can also opt for private surgery. It’s also a way to shorten the state waiting list.
Hungarian Govt to raise nurses’ and teachers’ wages
Certified nurses will benefit from a 20 percent pay rise from March 1 on, the head of the Prime Minister’s Office told a regular press briefing on Thursday.
Gergely Gulyás noted that the government had earlier decided to follow a European example and set nurses’ wages at 37 percent of those of doctors, and added that average salary in the nursing sector would reach a monthly 715,000 forints after the new hike.
Touching upon the subject of pensions, Gulyás said “the government trusts that an increase of 6 percent this year will be considerably higher than inflation”. He noted that inflation had been 5.5 percent in December.
School and kindergarten teachers will receive a 32.2 percent pay increase in February and another 21 percent increase next year, the head of the Prime Minister’s Office said on Thursday, adding that teachers’ wages will have been doubled during the current government cycle of 2022-2026.
The monthly pay for teachers will be 672,000 forints (EUR 1,760) on average, over 812,000 forints next year and around 880,000 in 2026, Gergely Gulyás told a weekly press briefing.
“The left wing’s efforts aimed at thwarting the release of a part of EU funding for the wage increase have failed,” Gulyás said, noting that with the funding received the government had taken “a big step forward” in fulfilling its earlier pledge to give teachers a substantial pay rise.
Read also:
- Novice teachers in Hungary paid less than 1/5th of annual salary of Danish counterparts
- Hungary needs to grow wages to boost economic rebound
Semmelweis University completes first liver transplant with shared organ in Hungary
A clinic of the Semmelweis University, Budapest, was the first in Hungary to complete two liver transplants from one donor organ in early December, the clinic said on Thursday.
The patients were a 3-year-old girl suffering from liver failure of unknown origin, and a 35-year-old man with liver cancer. Both are well, the man is convalescing at home while the girl is still being monitored at the clinic, the Department of Surgery, Transplantation and Gastroenterology said.
Meanwhile, the clinic has completed another intervention, where the recipients were a 20-month-old boy and a man with a Hepatitis B infection. They are both well, the statement said.
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Time to save for private care? Hungarian state pulling out of healthcare
The state is gradually withdrawing from the Hungarian healthcare sector. According to Péter Álmos, President of the Hungarian Medical Chamber, the government’s moves suggest that private providers will have a very important role to play in the provision of care.
Health sector in shambles
The state is gradually withdrawing from the healthcare sector, and the government’s actions indicate that private providers will play a very important role in the provision of care, the president of the Hungarian Medical Chamber (Magyar Orvosi Kamara, MOK) told hvg360 in an interview.
According to Péter Álmos,
Hungary is among the last in the EU in terms of preventable and avoidable deaths, as well as in basic health indicators, due to lack of funding.
The quality of care has deteriorated a lot over the last 5-10 years. People’s confidence in the health system has declined. This mainly affects the public sector. It’s no use having healthcare professionals do their best if the reality is different from the professional optimum, he said.
State doesn’t spend enough on healthcare
The state spends half the EU average of EUR 1200-1300 per capita on health, according to OECD statistics. This is the main reason why waiting lists and hospital debt are on the rise, as we wrote HERE.
According to Péter Álmos, despite government communication, the state is withdrawing from the health sector. Meanwhile, the share of the private sector has increased significantly over the past four years. The MOK president agrees with Viktor Orbán, who at a press conference at the end of the year called the healthcare system a mess. However, Álmos said that they do not know exactly how the government would put things in order, 24.hu wrote, based on the interview.
Preparing for private care
According to Álmos, we must be prepared for self-care. “The current steps are a step in the direction that I think anyone who can afford it should set aside a sum for their healthcare. As well as pensions or children’s education, which many people do outside the state system,” he said.
According to the president of the chamber, a well-functioning system can include both private and public care, there are international examples of this. However, the government needs to think carefully about the direction it wants to take in developing healthcare and how it allocates scarce human resources.
“A health reform takes a long time, I don’t think we need to rush it, but it would be more fortunate if health workers were not only passengers on the boat, but knew where they were going. As would be in everyone else’s interest,” Álmos said.
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Patience advised: extremely long waiting times in Hungarian healthcare sector
According to data shown on the National Hospital Directorate’s list, the number of those who are waiting for surgery exceeds 26,000. That’s only those who were waiting for more than 60 days.
The website’s list has twenty different treatments listed, and waiting time for half of these exceeds a hundred days. For five medical interventions, the national average waiting time manages to exceed two hundred days (as of the latest Saturday data).
Traumatic statistics
The most populated waiting line on the list is the one for knee surgery. This list winds up at the dizzying number of 11,300. Remember, these numbers only represent those who are already waited out their share of two months. Even so, out of this large group of people, 9,837 are in orthopedic care and 1,463 in traumatology.
The waiting time for these two categories is counted separately. In the former, the average waiting time, based on the last six months nationwide, is 263 days. This means that if a patient was added to the waiting list yesterday, on January 6th, for example, they can expect surgery around the end of September.
However, these numbers vary from region to region. If they subscribed to the list in the Western region of the country (which means Győr-Moson-Sopron, Vas, and Zala counties), the average waiting time already jumps up to a steep 430 days. That is, if a patient was added to the waiting list now, their expected knee replacement would be around March 10, 2025.
However, if the knee surgery is logged as being in traumatology, the process is much faster: 229 days nationally and only 407 days in the Western region.
The two ends
Based on the currently available lists and their calculated average waiting times from the last 6 months, the longest waiting time is for those who wish to undergo corneal surgery. According to the National Hospital Directorate’s data, this kind of interventions are only carried out at the Semmelweis University Clinical Center, marking the record average waiting time of 482 days. Meaning that patients who are added to the waiting list now may be scheduled for surgery in May 2025. There are currently around 350 people waiting for more than 60 days for a corneal surgery.
Overall, for the twenty conditions listed on the website, the average waiting time is about 130 days. Nose sinus surgery plays a significant role in the average waiting time. This, it seems, is a line that proceeds extremely fast. Here, no one waits more than sixty days, and on average, they are scheduled within 12 days. Without the nose sinus surgery, the national average waiting time would be over 140 days, approximately four and a half months.
How much longer?
The National Hospital Directorate’s website keeps track of waiting lists. Here, a total of 20 different treatments are listed, which at first may sound like a lot, but it’s not. Last year on the same website, there were 47 different interventions with their waiting lists published. The National Hospital Directorate did not comment on the decrease of the listed surgeries, writes 444.
This is one of the tricks used by the government to reduce the numbers on the waiting lists to make the situation seem lighter. Another well-used one is the way of them only listing those who were waiting for a brief two months, and showing them in the data only after this period.
This means the situation may be even worse than it seems now. The national waiting list for surgeries already equals that of a smaller Hungarian town like Jászberény. How much longer could the actual waiting list be?
As we wrote earlier, gratuity payments are still present in the Hungarian healthcare system, details HERE.
Also, we wrote before about Hungarian hospitals struggling with high debt, details HERE.
Gratuity payments still present in Hungarian healthcare system
The National Defence Service (NVSZ) has launched a media campaign to eliminate gratuity payments from Hungarian health care, the services’ officials said on Friday.
Under a law taking effect on January 1 in 2021, giving and accepting gratuities is a crime, but the practice has not yet disappeared from the Hungarian health-care system, the spokeswoman for NVSZ told a press conference.
Not having the powers of an authority, NVSZ only reported and initiated an investigation into 19 cases last year alone, Judit Pap said, adding that both a doctor and a patient faced penalties. She noted cases in which an investigation was launched against a cardiologist for 67 instances and another investigation launched against an oncologist for taking a gratuity from a patient for an otherwise free chemotherapy treatment.
According to NVSZ’s press material, the service has initiated investigation against 250 health-care workers in 105 cases since 2021.
The project has been financed with 473 million forints (EUR 1.2m) from domestic sources and with EU support, NVSZ said.
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Government: Hungary plans to set up one of Europe’s best healthcare systems
After an 11% pay rise for doctors in January, the wages of healthcare professionals will be further increased in a second phase of wage hikes next March, the interior minister told parliament’s welfare committee at his annual hearing on Tuesday.
The average base salary of doctors has been increased to HUF 2,197,000 (EUR 5,780) and of healthcare professionals to HUF 595,000 (EUR 1,576), which is 37% of the average base salary of doctors, Sándor Pintér, whose portfolio includes healthcare, told the body.
He highlighted improvements in Hungarian healthcare since the ministry took over the coordination of the sector’s tasks, adding that “the government will set up one of Europe’s best healthcare systems”.
In terms of hospital infections, Pintér noted that Hungary was ranked as standing “at the 7th best place in Europe”, adding that he would only be satisfied if Hungary ranked “as best”.
The minister dismissed claims that the number of healthcare workers was gradually dropping.
He called the elimination and the possibility of penalisation of gratuity payments a major achievement, insisting that “gratuity is an immoral basis on which no fair system can be built”.
Asked by opposition committee MPs about the ventilators purchased during the coronavirus pandemic and still held unused in warehouses, Pintér said it had been impossible to say in advance how many of them would be needed. Hungary’s position, he said, was that what had happened in hospitals in Italy should not occur in Hungary, adding that the ventilators would be used to replace old ones in Hungary’s healthcare institutions.
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Hungary will legalize euthanasia?
Euthanasia is not legally permitted in Hungary, and the government does not want to legalise it, the justice ministry said on Tuesday in connection with a case before the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR).
The case concerns a Hungarian individual’s petition filed with the ECtHR against Hungary’s ban on assisted suicide and the law prohibiting him from undergoing legal euthanasia abroad, too. The petition is being treated as a priority case by the court. Council of Europe member states have broad discretionary powers when it comes to euthanasia, with most of them, including Hungary, against legalising assisted suicide, the ministry said in a statement.
The ECtHR heard experts in the Karsai v. Hungary case on Monday and Tuesday, with the justice ministry representing Hungary. The ministry said Hungary considered “unacceptable” all decisions and aspirations which “enable others to end a person’s life”.
The ministry cited Article 2 of Hungary’s constitution and Article 2 of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), which guarantee the right to life. At the same time, neither Hungary’s constitution nor international law, including the ECHR, guarantee the right to die, it argued.
The statement said the “fulfilment of dignity and its preservation” were not a political issue or a matter of worldview, but a fundamental right which could not override the sanctity of life. “The protection of life is primary in Christian culture, including in Hungary,” it added.
The ministry said assisted suicide left room for “numerous forms of abuse”, stressing Hungary’s position that “no one can take another’s life for any reason”.
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Hungarian hospitals struggling with high debt
Several hospitals have accumulated debt exceeding 3 billion forints (EUR 8.1m), an opposition Democratic Coalition (DK) lawmaker and the health expert of the party’s shadow government said on Sunday.
Zoltán Komáromi told an online press conference on Facebook that “in addition to a dramatic shortage of professional staff and hospital infections”, the debt in many hospitals has reached record highs.
Total debt was over 108 billion forints by the end of September, he said, accusing the government of threatening the lives of Hungarians by allowing hospital debt to soar.
He cited data available from the State Treasury showing that Szent Janos Hospital in Budapest and the hospital of Szabolcs-Szatmar-Bereg County both accumulated debts exceeding 3 billion forints, and the hospital of Borsod-Abauj-Zemplen County had an even greater debt of 5 billion forints.
A shortage in hospital stocks will result in even longer waiting lists, he added.
Komáromi said the government’s aim was to guide people towards “private health care which profits a billionaire elite”.
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Hungarian hospitals in sky-high debt: serious medicine shortage may come
The Hungarian Institute of Medical Rehabilitation (Országos Mozgásszervi Intézet) only receives medication when payment is made in cash. In another Budapest hospital, surgeries faced delays due to equipment not arriving on time. The root cause? The sky-high debt of Hungarian hospitals.
According to RTL Klub, Hungary’s most popular commercial TV channel, the debt of the Hungarian hospitals is worryingly high. According to Gergely Gulyás, the prime minister’s chief of staff, it reached HUF 93 billion (EUR 246.5 million) in November.
László Rásky, the secretary of the Association of Medical Devices Manufacturers, highlighted that surgeries had to be postponed due to issues with medical equipment or a shortage of medicine.
Mr Gulyás said the government has decided to settle the hospitals’ debt, but time is running out. By the end of this December, the Hungarian healthcare sector’s debt will surge to HUF 130 billion (EUR 344.6 million), necessitating urgent financial assistance.
Mr Rásky emphasised that the cabinet must clear the debts of all Hungarian hospitals, including the university units
Ongoing talks on next year’s pay hikes for Hungarian nurses
Talks are ongoing on the details of the next pay rise nurses are scheduled to receive in the spring of 2024. The interior ministry revealed that healthcare professionals can anticipate an additional wage hike in March, on top of the 18% increase from July. This second phase aims to bring the average base salary of healthcare professionals to at least 37% of doctors’ average base salary.
Péter Takács, the state secretary for health care, has been in talks with representatives of the Democratic Union of Hungarian Social and Health Care Workers (MSZ EDDSZ) and the Independent Trade Union of Ambulance Workers (MOSZ). The government seeks input from the unions when devising the details of the regulations, advocating for the introduction of salary bands beyond the current fixed pay scale based on professional advancement.
The 2023 central budget has allocated 50 billion forints (EUR 131.9m) for wage hikes in the healthcare sector.
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Important change in Hungarian ambulance service
Huge changes are coming to the Hungarian ambulance services. You will want to keep these in mind just in case you need to call for an ambulance in the country in the future.
On 18 September, Minister of Interior Sándor Pintér paid a personal visit to the rescue control centre of the National Ambulance Service (OMSZ). He assigned the OMSZ a very important task: the task of developing Europe’s best, fastest and most efficient rescue and rescue management system, Népszava reports.
Paramount changes
In order to achieve this, a number of major changes will be implemented.
Speed limit
First of all, the permitted speed of ambulance vehicles will be limited. From the beginning of October, even when transporting seriously injured patient, paramedics will be allowed to exceed the speed limit for other road users by up to 30 km/h, even when the siren is sounding.
On-site video call
Second, from 1 November, the so-called on-site video call will be introduced. This means that the person in need of help and the circumstances can be videoed by the person involved in the rescue. In response to the question of Népszava, the OMSZ underscored that “in situations like this, it is only a video link and no recording or storing is made in the context of data management”.
Change in order of priority
In the ambulance prioritisation scheme, calls previously classified as P1 to P3 can now be classified between P1 and P5 by call handlers. P1 and P2 will continue to be the most serious cases, and ambulance cars will be required to have the siren on. Even in P3, the use of the siren is compulsory, but can be overridden by an individual decision of the rescue manager.
In cases classified as P4, assistance may be provided by telephone. If necessary, an ambulance will be dispatched depending on the rescue capacity. For those in P5, an ambulance will not be alerted. For example, blood pressure values without other “alarming symptoms”, limb pains, headache, backache not accompanied by neurological symptoms are included.
According to the OMSZ, the new prioritisation scheme will allow more options to choose the most appropriate level of urgency for the patient, depending on their condition. “This will lead to the introduction of a system that is more transparent, more diversified, and reviewed in the light of international experience,” they said.
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