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Croatia cracks down on corruption
World Report
Croatia cracks down on corruption The suspension of a doctor in Croatia for taking bribes is a sign that the country is cracking down on corruption. Health Minister Neven Ljubicic has even offered to send patients for treatment abroad in reward for information about doctors who ask for extra money. Ivo Scepanovic reports. Croatia’s health minister has offered to send patients abroad for expensive medical treatment as a reward for reporting doctors who demand bribes. The offer, announced by Minister Neven Ljubicic, came after Croatian police detained a surgeon in the northern Adriatic port town of Rijeka for bribery. The doctor was suspected of taking £3300 from a patient to push forward her operation date. Minister Ljubicic said: “In the event a person is afraid to get treated in the same city where they have reported corruption we will organise treatment in other cities or even abroad. The arrest in Rijeka is a clear message that we do not want corruption in our health system.” As in many other former eastern bloc states people in Croatia say they feel that corruption in the medical sector is rife. Surveys by groups such as Transparency International and other corruption watchdogs regularly cite the health sector as being perceived by the population as one of the most corrupt.
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Anecdotal evidence suggests that bribery and corruption in the sector extends from something small like a bottle of alcohol being given to a physician to thousands of pounds being exchanged to ensure doctors are present during procedures, or to move patients ahead on waiting lists. A recent report published by the respected Slobodna Dalmacija daily included an estimated table for bribes in hospitals that included €1500 to ensure a birth went well, €1000 for a gallstone operation, the same amount to make sure a bed was reserved in a hospital, and up to €5000 to guarantee the best care during neurosurgery. But the recent arrest has brought the problem into public focus because it involves a famous sportswoman— Croatian handball star Ljerka Krajnovic. She says she went to police after Ognjen Simic of the Rijeka Clinical Hospital allegedly told her he would put her father at the top of a waiting list for heart surgery in return for €5000. She told the local weekly magazine Globus: “I had heard stories about him as people were calling him Mr Five, referring to €5000 bribes. But I did not believe it until he offered to put my father at the top of the waiting list for the surgery if I gave him €5000. “At that time my father had already been waiting for 3 months for surgery but I went to the police.” Simic has strongly denied that he ever took a bribe and his bosses at Rijeka Clinical Hospital have said they have seen no evidence which would make them take disciplinary action against him. But since the case came to light in the media four separate individuals have come forward to say that Simic had taken bribes from them of between €1000 and €5000. Croatian
media also reported that police found €25 000 cash in envelopes in his office. The Ministry of Justice is currently looking into the case and the arrest has led Minister Ljubicic to call for doctors who are found guilty of corruption to be struck off. “Corrupt doctors should have their licences taken away”, he says. “We will not tolerate people that take even a bottle of wine or a chocolate from patient. It might sound funny to say that chocolate is a bribe, but it’s a small step towards what we call corruption.” He also called for all patient waiting lists to be made as transparent as possible so that there could be no risk of corruption. He said: “Some people believe that long waiting lists can lead to bribery in Croatian hospitals. But I disagree. There are waiting lists in Ireland and Great Britain—lists that have longer waiting times. But the corruption in those countries is minimal. “Long waiting lists do not necessarily mean that bribes have to be sought or given. We have ordered that all waiting lists be made accessible by the public so that the public can approach authorities if they think something is suspicious.” The ministry has also said that in order to try to slash waiting times a patient who requires specialist examinations must receive them within 30 days or can go to a private clinic and have the cost refunded by the state. But some MPs have criticised the Health Ministry’s moves. MP Damir Kajin says: “Corruption is not just a problem involving people taking bribes, but also that there are those who offer them.”
Ivo Scepanovic www.thelancet.com Vol 368 October 21, 2006
Croatia cracks down on corruption The suspension of a doctor in Croatia for taking bribes is a sign that the country is cracking down on corruption. Health Minister Neven Ljubicic has even offered to send patients for treatment abroad in reward for information about doctors who ask for extra money. Ivo Scepanovic reports. Croatia’s health minister has offered to send patients abroad for expensive medical treatment as a reward for reporting doctors who demand bribes. The offer, announced by Minister Neven Ljubicic, came after Croatian police detained a surgeon in the northern Adriatic port town of Rijeka for bribery. The doctor was suspected of taking £3300 from a patient to push forward her operation date. Minister Ljubicic said: “In the event a person is afraid to get treated in the same city where they have reported corruption we will organise treatment in other cities or even abroad. The arrest in Rijeka is a clear message that we do not want corruption in our health system.” As in many other former eastern bloc states people in Croatia say they feel that corruption in the medical sector is rife. Surveys by groups such as Transparency International and other corruption watchdogs regularly cite the health sector as being perceived by the population as one of the most corrupt.
Getty Images
The printed journal includes an image merely for illustration
1410
Anecdotal evidence suggests that bribery and corruption in the sector extends from something small like a bottle of alcohol being given to a physician to thousands of pounds being exchanged to ensure doctors are present during procedures, or to move patients ahead on waiting lists. A recent report published by the respected Slobodna Dalmacija daily included an estimated table for bribes in hospitals that included €1500 to ensure a birth went well, €1000 for a gallstone operation, the same amount to make sure a bed was reserved in a hospital, and up to €5000 to guarantee the best care during neurosurgery. But the recent arrest has brought the problem into public focus because it involves a famous sportswoman— Croatian handball star Ljerka Krajnovic. She says she went to police after Ognjen Simic of the Rijeka Clinical Hospital allegedly told her he would put her father at the top of a waiting list for heart surgery in return for €5000. She told the local weekly magazine Globus: “I had heard stories about him as people were calling him Mr Five, referring to €5000 bribes. But I did not believe it until he offered to put my father at the top of the waiting list for the surgery if I gave him €5000. “At that time my father had already been waiting for 3 months for surgery but I went to the police.” Simic has strongly denied that he ever took a bribe and his bosses at Rijeka Clinical Hospital have said they have seen no evidence which would make them take disciplinary action against him. But since the case came to light in the media four separate individuals have come forward to say that Simic had taken bribes from them of between €1000 and €5000. Croatian
media also reported that police found €25 000 cash in envelopes in his office. The Ministry of Justice is currently looking into the case and the arrest has led Minister Ljubicic to call for doctors who are found guilty of corruption to be struck off. “Corrupt doctors should have their licences taken away”, he says. “We will not tolerate people that take even a bottle of wine or a chocolate from patient. It might sound funny to say that chocolate is a bribe, but it’s a small step towards what we call corruption.” He also called for all patient waiting lists to be made as transparent as possible so that there could be no risk of corruption. He said: “Some people believe that long waiting lists can lead to bribery in Croatian hospitals. But I disagree. There are waiting lists in Ireland and Great Britain—lists that have longer waiting times. But the corruption in those countries is minimal. “Long waiting lists do not necessarily mean that bribes have to be sought or given. We have ordered that all waiting lists be made accessible by the public so that the public can approach authorities if they think something is suspicious.” The ministry has also said that in order to try to slash waiting times a patient who requires specialist examinations must receive them within 30 days or can go to a private clinic and have the cost refunded by the state. But some MPs have criticised the Health Ministry’s moves. MP Damir Kajin says: “Corruption is not just a problem involving people taking bribes, but also that there are those who offer them.”
Ivo Scepanovic www.thelancet.com Vol 368 October 21, 2006