Hospital’s head doctor charged with bribery

Vladimir P., the head doctor of one of the departments at the Children's Faculty Hospital and Policlinic (DFNsP) in the Bratislava borough of Kramáre, and who was arrested by National Crime Agency (NAKA) officials on Monday allegedly while receiving a bribe, has been charged with the same offence, said Police Corps Presidium spokesperson Michal Slivka on Tuesday. The doctor, who heads the hospital's Department of Paediatric Urology, has already been dismissed as the Health Ministry's chief expert for the aforementioned subgroup of medicine, said ministry spokesperson Martina Šoltésová. "There's a lot of talk about corruption in health care, but cases in which it's exposed by the public are few and far between. This is why we keep urging people to use the Health Ministry's anti-corruption phone service or report it to the police straightaway", said Šoltésová. According to the website aktualne.sk, the doctor 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.