Most party leader Bozo Petrov and head of the party's health council, Ivan Bekavac, on Thursday warned of the difficult situation in health care, stressing that addressing the drug shortage is just an emergency measure and that it is necessary to thoroughly reform the health system.

It is horrible to experience the fate of hundreds of patients, many of whom have been paying health contributions for decades, and for the past week or two have been receiving notifications that the hospital does not have the drugs their lives or treatment depend on, the Bridge party said.

Health Minister Vili Beros said on Wednesday after a meeting with representatives of drug wholesalers that they had agreed on a repayment plan until the end of the year for a HRK 6.5 million debt.

“Yesterday, all of a sudden all the problems were solved, and in my opinion that is just patching it up. What is happening now is a legacy of long-standing neglect of the need to reform the public health system. The government is once again mentioning reforms, but had done nothing so far,” Petrov said.

He thinks that major reforms are not likely, so he called on the government to show its ability to solve problems on the example of one small hospital.

“They could try and solve a pilot programme of the Dubrovnik hospital, so that citizens of Dubrovnik-Neretva County can have the health care they deserve and are paying for,” Petrov said.

Bekavac said that the agony of the health system is continuing, but that it is possible to make a clean start in the health system.

“Pharmaeconomics of hospital drugs is necessary, with an emphasis on particularly expensive drugs. In addition to resolving the existing debts, it is necessary to determine economic prices of health care, establish a sustainable economic basis for the operation of health institutions and thus avoid any possible episode of the drama with drug wholesalers,” Bekavac said.