Each of the ten surgeons working at the Buzău County Hospital, where a female doctor died in still unexplained circumstances, would have had three guards a month, says the Minister of Health. Alexandru Rogobete stated, on MedikaTV, that he does not know why Stefania Szabo had to do seven shifts in one month.
“I know the doctor, may God rest her. I also know her mother. I know both of them well and it is a tragic situation with everything that happened there. I am the most informed person in terms of health, and it’s normal, because of my position. And if I had and if I didn’t have concrete information about the situation in Buzău, I would never make it public or discuss it out of respect for the doctor, out of respect for our colleague, out of respect for the family hers“, said the Minister of Health, on Medika TV.
Asked about the burnout phenomenon faced by medical staff, Alexandru Rogobete said:
“It’s a problem we’ve known about for a long time.”
“On average, around three guards per person had to be made there”
The minister specified that at the Buzău County Hospital there are nine surgeons plus a doctor with an additional on-call contract.
“So, ten surgeons in total. That means that normally there had to be an average of about three guards done there per person. Why the lady doctor was doing seven guards, or why someone else was doing less than they could do, I don’t know, nI have an explanation if it was her choice to do more, if it was imposed by the situation there, if her colleagues did not want to do more guards. It will be determined later!“, said Alexandru Rogobete.
The doctor was found dead on Tuesday. PHOTO Facebook Stefania Szabo
“The staff is not enough and then these overcrowding and burnouts occur”
The minister admitted that there are hospitals in the country where the guards are hardly covered, due to the shortage of personnel.
“There are two phenomena: lack of staff and there are also colleagues who do not want to be on guard or who cannot be on guard because of the medical situation, for example, or situations arise if someone goes on leave and the guard rotation is immediately destabilized. There are such situations because the staff is not enough and then there are overcrowding and exhaustion for the medical staff who are often forced to work beyond the minimum standard”added the Minister of Health, Alexandru Rogobete.
The death of Ștefania Szabo (37 years old), the medical director of the Buzău County Hospital, found on Tuesday, breathless right at work, in the guard room, raises many questions. The unit manager and colleagues talk about burnout, explaining that the doctor also did seven shifts a month.
A manslaughter investigation is underway.
The necropsy in the case of the death under unclear circumstances of Dr. Stefania Szabo has been completed. Several hypotheses are being considered, including possible poisoning, but toxicology results are not yet available.
