The Ombudsman Diana Kovacheva has sent a recommendation to the

The Ombudsman Diana Kovacheva has sent a recommendation to the Acting Minister of Health, Dr. Asen Medjidiev, to check the organization of the work of the committees and the conditions in the waiting rooms of the Territorial Expert Medical Commission on the territory of the country, as well as for rude and unethical treatment of people with disabilities. The reason for her actions – frequent reports from patients about the lack of basic conditions , such as chairs and benches in front of the offices of the Territorial Expert Medical Commission.

“Given that we are talking about people with disabilities, the lack of such basic care and normal human treatment, in hospitals, are absolutely unacceptable and inadmissible ”, she wrote in her position.

This is Prof. Kovacheva’s second letter with a similar recommendation, after some time ago the institution was referred, and the Ministry of Health took action on the specific signals of the ombudsman. The reason for this request is a report from Blagoevgrad, which describes a particularly shocking case, which is why the ombudsman is turning to the director of the Regional Health Inspection-Blagoevgrad , Dr. Petar Ivanov, as well as to the executive director of „ MBAL-Blagoevgrad “ JSC for verification. Dr. Ognyan Mitev.

The report came from a citizen whose son was forced to wait for hours in order to be able to submit his documents to the Territorial Expert Medical Commission. And then it turns out that his personal presence was not necessary . The date for the 21-year-old boy’s appearance before the Commission is set for 09:30 on April 28, but in order to be on time, the mother and her son stand outside the office at 09:00, in front of which there is already a queue of 20 waiting, some of which with duplicate hours. It also becomes clear on the spot that the examinations of patients with orthopedic, neurological and mental diseases will be conducted at different times .

In her report to the ombudsman, the woman is outraged that there are only 6-7 chairs in the waiting room, which has forced the other patients to stand for hours. Among them is a child with autism and his father, with a severe herniated disc, another child with a mental illness, as well as more disabled people, in a condition that does not allow them to wait for long straight. For this reason, people organize themselves and move an empty bench that was in front of another office so that the most needy can sit. However, this leads to a sharp remark from an orderly, and later a doctor also intervenes, insisting that the bench be returned to its place.

The filing of the documents for the applicant ends after nearly 5 hours – at 1:00 p.m., and it turns out that the woman’s son did not need to be present in person. Something she could have been warned about.The public defender wrote:

“As a national ombudsman, I would like to express my concern about what has been described and note that this is another signal of violated rights of people with disabilities and their companions, as a result of gaps in the organization of the work of the Territorial Expert Medical Commission. I believe that such treatment of people with severe disabilities, including children, is unacceptable, creates serious difficulties for them and damages their dignity . ”

Kovacheva insists that a detailed investigation be carried out on the case and that the necessary actions be taken if gaps and violations are found .

In the recommendation , which was addressed to the director of the Regional Health Inspection-Blagoevgrad, in his capacity as a control body, and to the executive director of the hospital, to which the Territorial Expert Medical Commission was disclosed – to take the necessary measures to improve the organization of work of the Commissions – to prevent a large group of waiting people from congregating at the same time, to shorten their stay as much as possible, to ensure a sufficient number of seats, as well as access to sanitary facilities and other amenities for the disabled and their companions.