In the past few years the Government has revived Hungarian healthcare services which were swamped in debt, disorganised and in a serious crisis, Minister of State for Health Miklós Szócska said in the western Hungarian town of Körmend.

Mr. Szócska said that over the past four years the most problematic issues have been solved and funds have been provided for the most important healthcare development projects.

He said that during the next 18 months Körmend hospital will be renovated at a cost of 1.7 billion forints (EUR 5.5 million), which will result in better conditions in the internal medicine and surgery wards, as well as improved outpatient care; the surgery unit will also be renovated and the hospital will receive new instrumentation.

Talking about healthcare in general, he said a rational framework had to be established within which every form of healthcare service should have its place and proper funding needs to be provided for each.

He said patient management and services such as one-day surgery, outpatient care and chronic care must be streamlined, adding that the transformation of the healthcare system reached a stage at which the standard of services provided has improved significantly.

The Minister of State said legal changes – such as the protection of non-smokers, extra taxes on junk food and limits on trans fat content – as well as widespread screening programs had also contributed to the improvement.

(Ministry of Human Resources)