Denys Shmyhal: Government will systematically address the problem of providing doctors who work with coronavirus patients

The Government will issue relevant commissions to improve the situation with the technical support of emergency medical service stations based on the results of a working trip to Kyiv region and a visit to the ambulance station in Bila Tserkva.

The Prime Minister of Ukraine Denys Shmyhal stated at a briefing during a trip to Bila Tserkva.

According to him, despite the allocated funds, the situation at emergency medical service stations remains quite difficult. "There was a signal from the staff of the Bila Tserkva emergency station, we departed with the Minister of Health. And there we can see a common scenario when the state allocates funding, NHSU signs agreements on 100% funding, and in fact, we observe that repairs are missing, cars are old, there is lacking medicines supply, there are problems with personal protective equipment, and it all rests on the human factor".   

Denys Shmyhal stressed that based on the results of the working trip to Kyiv region, conclusions will be drawn and relevant instructions will be given both regarding the Bila Tserkva emergency service station and the systemic solution of this problem. "In my opinion, a similar situation exists in many healthcare facilities, and doctors today are at the forefront of the fight against the coronavirus epidemic. The problem is the middle public management, to which a number of questions arise," the Prime Minister said.

The Head of Government accentuated that currently, each medical institution is a municipal non-profit institution, respectively, there is a head who bears the responsibility, there are relevant local governments, which are also accountable. "The state allocates funding, from April 1 the system has already been operating under agreements concluded with the National Health Service of Ukraine, according to this system each institution receives funds for working with patients having coronavirus infection, then the head already makes decisions and distributes the funds earned by the institution among doctors. And here there are already questions of the fairness of distribution and payment to everyone who worked with coronavirus patients".

Responding to questions about the provision of personal protective equipment to healthcare personnel, the Head of Government said that he had instructed acting Head of the Kyiv Regional State Administration Vasyl Volodin to take an inventory the next day at the warehouses of the emergency medical service station in Bila Tserkva and see how many suits they really have and find out why, despite the state allocating protective suits to the region, doctors are not fully provided.