THE POLICE charged Vladimír P., the head doctor of one of the departments at the Children’s Faculty Hospital and Policlinic (DFNsP) in the Bratislava borough of Kramáre for taking a bribe. He was arrested by the National Criminal Agency (NAKA) on December 15, the TASR newswire reported.
The General Prosecutor’s Office did not provide any further information as the investigation is still underway.
According to the Aktualne.sk website which broke the story, Vladimír P. allegedly received a bribe of €500 along with a bottle of spirits in return for which he was expected to give priority to selected patients.
The doctor accompanied by his lawyer meanwhile underwent attended hearing on December 16. The case is supervised by the Special Prosecutor’s Office. TASR wrote that Vladmír P. would not be kept in custody.
The doctor, who heads DFNsP’s Department of Paediatric Urology, has also been dismissed as the Health Ministry’s chief expert for the aforementioned subgroup of medicine, said ministry spokeswoman Martina Šoltésová.
“There is a lot of talk about corruption in health care, but cases in which it is exposed by the public are few and far between,” Šoltésová said, as quoted by TASR. “This is why we keep urging people to use the Health Ministry’s anti-corruption phone service or report it to the police straightaway.”
Moreover, the hospital suspended him from work. The management of the hospital has distanced from the corruptive behaviour. It stressed that it would not tolerate any similar behaviour of any of its employees, DFNsP’s spokeswoman Dana Kamenická said, as reported by TASR.
Source: TASR
Compiled by Radka Minarechová from press reports
The Slovak Spectator cannot vouch for the accuracy of the information presented in its Flash News postings.
