Belarus proposes tightening requirements for private healthcare workers. The relevant amendments to the law on licensing have been submitted for discussion with Aliaksandr Lukashenka.
The draft proposes increasing the required work experience at a state institution from three to seven years for those wishing to work at a private clinic. It is also proposed to make it mandatory for workers, including mid-level medical staff, to hold at least a first-category qualification.
As usual at such meetings, Lukashenka questioned the proposed changes.
“Many people question the advisability of the proposed changes to the requirements for working in the private healthcare sector. Does this mean that state organizations are becoming a springboard for private business? Or not?” he said, according to his press service.
He also asked how often and why employees of state healthcare institutions move to private businesses.
“Is such a migration of healthcare workers to private providers happening everywhere? How will the proposed measures help strengthen the staffing reserves of state healthcare institutions? On the other hand, if everything is left as it is, to what extent will private healthcare be involved in addressing the state’s social tasks? And, in general, how does the public-private partnership work in this area?
And in general, we need to look at state and private healthcare. We always say: ‘Let’s ensure equal conditions and so on.’ But are the conditions really equal? Probably, pricing and the cost of services also play a role here,” he said.
