Valeria Herdea, the president of the National Health Insurance Company (CNAS) stated that there are more than 1,500 vacant family doctor positions and 190 localities without a family doctor. Bureaucracy and control drive young people away from this specialty.
Less and less family doctors in Romania – Photo Archive
The president of CNAS, Valeria Herdea, presented the current situation of medical personnel and the distribution of the budget in the health system, emphasizing the lack of family doctors and the importance of allocating additional funds for adequate medical services.
“Let me tell you how we are doing. We currently have 10,070 doctors under contract, family doctors under contract with the National Health Insurance Company, in outpatient medical assistance we have 3,473 contracts, in paraclinical assistance 1,059, civil hospitals 372, private hospitals 342 (. ..). In the chapter where we, most of us, work, the presence of the family doctor, looks like this: there are 1,529 unoccupied family doctor positions, 190 localities without work points, without a family doctor, therefore totally without medical assistance – 1,043 of localities with a deficit in terms of the presence of a family doctor. I can certainly go on with the figures and I will tell you something else. At this moment we asked for 90 billion lei, we got 62 (billions, no), for goods and services we have 44.5 billion, 30% for hospitals, 8% for family medicine, 6% for outpatients, 1% for dentistry. We have 17 curative programs within the National Health Insurance House. Prevention programs are at the Ministry of Health“, Valeria Herdea said, according to Agerpres.
The lack of family doctors is obvious, and the situation will become critical, considering that in the coming years 40% of the family doctors in the system will retire.
“The majority of family doctors who have passed 65 will retire, around 40% according to the CMR report, and then we will be left with a major deficit of family doctors in Romania. I have not seen a coherent health policy that encourages graduates to go into family medicine as a residency. Only limited places, there was no real need for family doctors. I'm with the caravan in the countryside, I find whole villages without family doctors. I raised the alarm about this. We take money to ensure access to the uninsured, but who discovers them, who takes them into account, if not family doctors?“, Cezar Irimia, President of the Federation of Associations of Cancer Patients, sent for “truth“.
Too much bureaucracy
For her part, Daciana Toma, secretary of the National Society of Family Medicine (SNMF), is of the opinion that the unnecessary bureaucracy, but also the control, keeps young people away from family medicine.
“From the perspective of the number of family doctors, we have a worrying situation, we should see how we can keep family doctors in the system. Doctors who enter the system don't really leave, the problem is with those who do family medicine residency and don't stay. It is not the financial part that turns them away from family medicine, but the part of unnecessary bureaucracy and a lot of control links, which are not necessarily related to medical practice. You have to be very careful, because they are coming to control you. It's not always easy for young doctors to enter the system, although at this point, if you do your job right, it can bring you financial satisfaction regardless of the area in which you practice.“, she says.
Moreover, the SNMF representative draws attention to the fact that family doctors are also missing from the cities or communes around the Capital.
“Paradoxically, the lack of family doctors is not only in the countryside or in remote rural areas, we know that municipalities that are looking for family doctors 20-30 km from Bucharest are cities that have a shortage. We are also talking about cities and easily accessible areas. This problem cannot be solved only by the Insurance House, and not overnight. Many things need to change to cover the deficit.“, adds Daciana Toma.
Family medicine is one of the least attractive medical specialties among residents, and in recent years, thousands of family doctors have left Romania.
