Patients avoid reporting corruption in public healthcare due to distrust

Patients in North Macedonia rarely report corruption in public healthcare because they distrust the system, lack clear information and feel vulnerable, experts said during a series of public forums.

The events, organized by the NGO ESSE under the title "Corruption in health care – let's talk openly", gathered patients, health workers and civil society representatives who described common informal practices: asking for faster specialist appointments, requesting specific doctors, or securing hospital beds and operations without long waits.

Proposed fixes: transparency and clear procedures

Speakers stressed that measures must include patients, medical staff and the authorities and must be practical. They called for publicly available price lists and a clear statement of which services are covered by the Health Insurance Fund at specialists’ offices, primary gynecologists and health centres, together with transparent waiting lists to reduce opportunities for abuse.

Darko Antić – ESSE said: "What both health workers and citizens emphasize is transparency – in the sense that all price lists, all services covered by the HIF should be clearly indicated at specialists, at primary gynecologists, in health centres etc... But also transparency regarding waiting lists so there is no potential room for abuse...."

Research presented at the forums shows these practices are common but seldom reported. "The biggest problem is the distrust in the system that after reporting a particular case of corruption someone would act appropriately, and the other aspect is the lack of information both among health workers and among citizens and the absence of clear rules, procedures and steps that should be followed", Antić added.

Participants also noted that the Ministry of Health launched a digital tool to report such cases "one year ago", but since the launch there has been no public information on whether any irregularities were reported and what the ministry has done in response.

Photo: press material from the event