The Minister of Health is speaking to Romanians from all over the country about a last-minute decision that he took for millions of Romanians, and it is one that should have been implemented for a very long time, because it focuses on increasing the amount of money allocated for feeding patients in hospitals.
The Minister of Health says that this will be almost doubled from 11 LEI to 20 LEI, it being completely insufficient at the moment, and the fastest way to adopt it is being sought, so that patients who arrive in hospitals can benefit from food appropriate for the diseases for which they are treated.
"It is being discussed, I want to tell you that I have been discussing this topic for more than a month now. There was a meeting of working groups at Government level that referred to the provision of food allowances for refugees from Ukraine, and on this occasion I brought up this subject, and now it has even reached the Romanian Parliament.
Obviously, the food allowance, as it was stipulated by the normative acts in force, for a normal patient, 11 LEI, in the conditions mentioned by you, was totally insufficient, and then we started from this premise, and this value of an amount which was established for those from Ukraine, a minimum of 20 LEI for a patient.
Of course there is a more extensive level, because there are people with certain pathologies that require certain dietary regimes, and there has always been a correlation of a package, or an amount of an ordinary package, with those for patients who have special needs, who they were receiving a superior food allowance, and we will see what is the best way for adoption.
If this parliamentary way is the fastest, then it is very good, we will support any approach that correlates the needs of decent feeding of patients in hospitals with the real situation on the market, because obviously food prices have increased, inflation exists , and there are other pressures at the level of health facilities, not only those related to the patients' food.
The hospital budget has several components, the main one is represented by salary expenses, it continues with what is paid for utilities, patient meals, and finally medicines, sanitary materials, investigations. We will be able to see this impact of the price increase in a not very long time."
