This Monday, Health Minister May Chomali shared the measures they are working on to align with the request from the Ministry of Finance for all public departments to make a 3% spending adjustment. In an interview with Radio Agricultura, Chomali stated that they are looking at “the savings we can make today specifically related to management, so as not to affect patient care. In this regard, I ask for calm from patients and professionals, as care will not be impacted.
” She emphasized that “the reduction in spending is about improving efficiency” and explained that the goal is to focus on “efficiency, management, and savings in improving management. ” Chomali detailed that “we have looked closely and have been very involved with a team from the Ministry of Finance and Dipres, examining line by line where we could save, rather than making cuts. It is very different.
And indeed, we have found many areas that do not affect patient care. ” She illustrated this with examples of “investigations that have not been concluded, or that have not been closed for various reasons, which are generating extra costs, because many of the individuals under investigation are suspended, and these suspensions have required replacements, thus we are paying a salary to someone who is at home receiving a paycheck because they are under investigation. ” Moreover, she confessed that “we have cases of more than three years receiving a salary, we are paying for vacations, and on the other hand, we have hired someone to replace them.
This is a saving we can start generating today by closing the investigations. This means: either they return to work and we stop replacing the person, or that person leaves and we stop paying their salary. That is a saving today.
” She explained that this includes investigations related to medical leaves, but also “other types of investigations of different characteristics. ” In fact, she mentioned that “last Tuesday we had a meeting with service directors, where we requested this review and to expedite the closure of investigations of any magnitude. ” She insisted that “it cannot take three years to close an investigation,” as it is like being “on vacation with a paid salary, or a sabbatical year, or three sabbatical years.
” She pointed out that “this is a saving we can make today. ” On another note, she explained that “other savings we can make today relate to the work that Cenabast (Central Supply of the National Health Services System) has been doing, with stock control in hospitals, because most of the time it was lost, because ‘there is no time,’ so the order made was the same as the previous month, without considering that no medication had been used, and that’s when they started to eliminate due to obsolescence. ” In this regard, she added that “we already have 65 integrated hospitals, and I have asked the director of Cenabast to expedite the integration of the remaining hospitals, starting with those that have the highest expenditure, but there is also a saving today.