Patients wait up to a year for certain specialist examinations in public health institutions in Bosnia and Herzegovina. In order to solve a long-standing problem that further impairs the health of citizens, certain measures were taken in Tuzla Canton. On the other hand, patients have the right to a refund in private clinics if they wait longer than the stipulated period.
In order to alleviate this problem, the Tuzla University Clinical Center introduced the practice of working in the afternoon and on Saturdays, for which doctors are paid separately. It was primarily done at Pediatrics and they state that there is no longer a waiting list for magnetic resonance imaging longer than 30 days. In the Clinic for Internal Diseases, six to eight emergency cases are treated on Saturdays. The Clinic for Orthopedics is a complex problem.
“Because a large number of colleagues, practically an entire generation of colleagues who started working together, have retired, although we are also making certain losses and waiting lists, we are trying to reduce them by working on Saturdays,” points out the director of UKC Tuzla, Denijal Tulumović.
Measures are underway to introduce two shifts in the Clinic for Ophthalmology, where waiting lists for operations are up to 8 months, and these possibilities are also open for other clinics, Tulumović says. On the other hand, the relevant ministry states that, according to the submitted monthly reports, the health centers have the optimal deadlines for examinations, except for the Gradačac Health Center.
“As far as health centers are concerned, especially the smaller ones, the lists are short and that is within a certain time frame,” said Duška Bećirović, Minister of Health of the Tuzla Canton.
The Minister states that they did not receive applications due to long waits and that earlier problems with Radiology at the Tuzla Health Center have been resolved. The contractual obligations are clear.
“The patient cannot be put on the waiting list if it is an emergency. Furthermore, the health institution is obliged by contract to provide health services for a maximum of 90 days”, notes Riad Kurtalić from the Institute of Health Insurance TC.
If the patient is placed on the waiting list for more than 90 days, he can contact the management of that institution, the Ministry of Health and submit a request to the Institute for reimbursement of examination costs in other institutions.
While measures are being taken to reduce waiting lists, patients should and must use their rights guaranteed by laws and contracts to protect their health.
