Slovak patients have a new tool how to fight against corrupt doctors. Transparency International Slovakia (TIS) NGo has launched a website entitled 'Stop Bribery' where they can report physicians asking for bribes. Although patients are currently obliged to report such cases they are often not willing to do it.
“This is caused by a lack of trust in institutions in general. Patients simply don't believe that reporting illicit practices will make any difference,“ TIS lawyer Pavel Nechala explained. The website, however, is designed to alleviate such concerns. "We will explain to patients what their options are and help them draw up a criminal complaint, we will contact the Special Prosecutor's Office, and if it's necessary to carry out any other operations, we'll go through them with the patient," added Nechala. The idea to create the website came from a presidential candidate and founder of the Good Angel charity Andrej Kiska, after a case of a young boy with a brain tumour was revealed. The parents of the boy were faced with paying their doctor a bribe to carry out a required surgery. According to a poll conducted by FOCUS agency in January, there have been more similar cases. The past three years have seen 100,000 people being asked to give a bribe by a physician.
