This year, Minister of Health Kamil Šaško (Voice-SD) promised a lot, but in the end it was just empty phrases and a marketing strategy. Oskar Dvořák (PS) stated this for TASR as part of the assessment of the year 2025 in the Slovak healthcare sector.
- Health Minister Kamil Šaško faces criticism for unfulfilled promises and reforms.
- Vice President Oskar Dvořák expressed dissatisfaction with the implementation of strategies in the department.
- Dvořák criticized the rescue tender and accusations of favoring related companies.
- The opposition MP drew attention to failures in the vaccination campaign and prevention of epidemics.
- The project of the National University Hospital is stagnating due to the lack of a clear plan and funding.
“He came to the department with three main priorities – stabilization of health workers, effective use of funds and decision-making based on data. However, real solutions have been absent for the second year,” thinks the opposition MP.
He also criticized the presented human resources strategy. According to Dvořák, the document contains several absurd measures. “These include, for example, sending e-mails to schools with the aim of mapping interest in mentoring, with a deadline of up to one year. According to the document, the analysis of the financing of secondary medical schools should last until 2035,” he said. According to him, the strategy also lacks real steps to stop the departure of young medical professionals.
Dvořák also commented negatively on the so-called rescue tender. “Instead of patients, the money should have gone only to related companies and fellow party members. Information about further favoritism only increased during the year,” he added.
Dvořák also criticized the actions of the government representative for the review of the process of management and resource management during the COVID-19 pandemic, Petr Kotlár. “Today, the minister even claims that Kotlár’s conspiracies are just one of the opinions in society. We know the results of the SAV scientific study on vaccines only thanks to the scientists, not thanks to the ministry,” he recalled. He added that, in his opinion, Kotlár has a real influence on the health sector in practice. He claims that he managed to block the purchase of vaccines and Slovakia’s participation in the World Health Organization (WHO) pandemic agreement.
Šaška also sees failure in the field of vaccination. “He did not carry out a vaccination campaign, although the jaundice epidemic has been ongoing in the south of Slovakia for months. He ordered vaccines, but late and woefully few. And although he claimed that everyone who wants to be vaccinated, people waited weeks for the dates of the covid vaccines in the middle of the virus season,” he stated.
Dvořák also expressed reservations about the procedure for the project of the National University Hospital in Bratislava’s Vajnory. He pointed out that this year the project moved forward only formally, without solving the key issues. According to him, specific deadlines, a medical plan, clear financing and an idea of how the new hospital should fit into the network of Bratislava hospitals are still missing. “With the largest investment project in the healthcare sector, instead of transparency, there is once again only silence and decision-making behind closed doors (…) The only project for which he himself bears responsibility remains just an empty box with a nice packaging.” he noted.
