At the "St. Pantelimon" hospital in Bucharest, anesthesia and intensive care doctors went on spontaneous strike
Articol de Adriana Turea, 08 August 2024, 15:57
The situation at the 'Sfantul Pantelimon' Emergency Hospital in Bucharest is getting more complicated - the anesthesia and intensive care doctors have gone on a spontaneous strike and refuse to administer anesthetic to chronic patients who were scheduled for surgery. Only emergencies and care for patients undergoing therapy are provided. Meanwhile, Health Minister Alexandru Rafila is trying to unblock the situation, especially since the anesthesiologists are threatening to resign, which would mean a deadlock for the hospital.
Reporter: The medical director of the ''St. Pantelimon'' Hospital in the capital has resigned, and today the manager of the medical unit is expected to do so as well. Health Minister Alexandru Rafila explained that the prosecutors' accusations and the detention of the two doctors for aggravated homicide have created distrust among the population and said that he will talk to the doctors in the hospital today to convince them that medical work must continue.
Alexandru Rafila: This is an unprecedented situation. We have to make sure that medical activity at Pantelimon Hospital will continue. I want to discuss with the heads of the wards of Pantelimon Hospital, with the doctors of the Intensive Care Unit and find a solution together. The public pressure of blaming the medical staff in corpore is not a response that we should encourage. Whoever is guilty should pay. I find what has happened absolutely incredible, if it has happened, because we are, after all, talking at the moment about an ongoing criminal investigation. It seems to me essential to ensure that the hospital is functional and to respect the medical staff who are doing their job.
Prosecutors opened a criminal file on the crime of aggravated homicide after they received a referral in April from a hospital nurse about the deaths of 17 patients between April 4 and 7 in the ICU. She accused doctors of voluntarily reducing doses of norepinephrine, a drug used to increase or maintain blood pressure.
Translated by: Radu Matei
