State inspectorate to probe case of Ljubica Shavreska after fetal loss following transfers between hospitals

The State Sanitary and Health Inspectorate will examine the care received by a pregnant woman who said she lost her fetus after being treated at several health facilities, health authorities and the patient confirmed.

The woman, nurse Ljubica Shavreska, described in a Facebook post how she went to hospitals in Ohrid and Struga in the middle of the night while in the 24th week of pregnancy, and was later referred to a clinic in Skopje with a deteriorating condition. She says the episode ended with a fetal loss at a private clinic and that failures in the health system made the loss far more traumatic.

Ministry orders inspection, will form expert commission

"Aware of the severity of the patient's experience and in order to fully and objectively determine all circumstances, the Ministry immediately initiated a request to the State Sanitary and Health Inspectorate for the supervision of the conduct of the health institutions and medical staff involved in the case. After the extraordinary inspection by the DSZI, the Ministry of Health will form a commission for professional oversight of the work of the health workers who participated in the patient's treatment," the Ministry of Health said in a statement.

The ministry added that should any shortcomings be identified, it will act in accordance with the law. The request for inspection follows a wave of attention on social networks after Shavreska published her account.

In her post Shavreska said she did not seek pity or revenge but wanted answers and change. "My pregnancy is over. But the way the system behaved made this loss much harder and much more traumatic than it had to be. I do not seek pity. I do not seek revenge either. I will not sue. But I have the right to speak. And I have the right to ask: Should healthcare look like this, the system in which I myself have served for ten years? Does a pregnant woman have to bleed, endure unbearable pain and beg for help for someone to take her seriously?"

Shavreska concluded her message by calling for a health system where nobody must ask for privilege to be saved, reminding that behind every patient is a person, behind every pregnant woman is a mother, and behind every pregnancy is a whole world.

Photo: press material from the event