No one should be left without healthcare services when they need them

"With today’s first presidential forum, I want to help find strategic guidelines and unify policies so that the much-needed process of health reform will be as efficient, unified and smooth as possible," said President Pirc Musar in her opening remarks, hoping that the announced health reform will put an end to the violation of the human rights of those citizens who do not have regular access to healthcare services or to a personal doctor.

The Slovenian President believes that the key to a successful reform is cooperation: within health teams, between decision-makers in all sectors, between the coalition and the opposition, and by taking into account the good initiatives of health service providers. "We must all work together for the benefit of the patients. No one should be left without healthcare services when they need them, and this is one of the five main objectives of my term of office."

However, today’s forum has highlighted that there are no simple recipes for health reform. Participants agreed that incremental steps in the right direction can lead to effective and good health reform. "We all want to preserve public health and help it to adapt to challenging circumstances. Today we have heard some good starting points, and I have confidence in the minister that health reform will be delivered in a high-quality way. It is appropriate that the issue should be considered by the councils of experts, by politicians, by civil society and by individuals. But then it is the duty of decision-makers to move from thinking to action," said President Nataša Pirc Musar.

On the basis of today’s discussion, the Office of the President of the Republic of Slovenia will prepare a comprehensive document that will be sent to the team at the Ministry of Health as a tool for further work.

In addition to the Minister of Health, Danijel Bešić Loredan, the forum was attended by eminent health and policy experts and representatives of civil society organisations. The demographic situation and the key challenges in this area were discussed by Dr Mitja Čok and Dr Peter Došenović Bonča, from the School of Economics and Business of the University of Ljubljana. Dr Alojz Ihan from the Ljubljana University Medical Centre, Dr Dragan Kovačić, Director of the Celje General Hospital, and Kristina Modic from the Slovenian Association of Patients with Lymphoma and Leukaemia presented their views on the effective organisation and management of the healthcare system. Luka Renko from COVID-19 Data Tracker, Dr Ivan Eržen, scientific director at the National Institute of Public Health, and Tatjana Mlakar, the director general of the Slovenian Health Insurance Institute, outlined the starting points for improving efficiency.