Doctors insist on restructuring Emergency Services

The Bulgarian Medical Association and the Bulgarian Society for Emergency Medicine want restructuring of the Emergency Services.

The doctors insist on introducing special protocols for emergency calls in hospital and outpatient care. This way those who need medical care will be categorized depending on their condition.

The protocols will prioritize emergency patients who will receive quick and effective help.
“If we continue to be overwhelmed by patients with a variety of complaints, we lose emergency patients; we lose patients whom we can help. The increasing chaos discourages colleagues, we become increasingly less and it becomes more difficult to work,” – said President of the Bulgarian Society for Emergency Medicine, Dr. Desislava Katelieva.

“The patient will be correctly diagnosed and properly directed to the respective Department which he/ she really needs, without going around to one, two or three hospitals,” said Tsvetan Raichinov of the Bulgarian Medical Association.

Will Bulgarian Emergency Services ever become like the British?

The Medical Association calculated that 100 000 000 BGN are necessary for reforming Emergency Services. This will be the cost of restructuring the existing centers.

A large part of the vehicle fleet is still amortized; there still is no change in the payment of the emergency physicians, as was promised several months ago.

At the same time, in Great Britain, for example, ambulances reach patients before the 8-th minute after the signal. Nigel Gausden, an expert in Emergency Services in England, reformed the British Emergency Services, making them one of the most effective in Europe. He created clear criteria for emergency cases and the quick servicing of the patient. Gausden states that English ambulances are sent only in crashes, while patients who need to be hospitalized have GP-s.

On the other side of the Channel there are two phone lines for emergency services. One – for the most serious cases, and another – for urgent cases. There patients receive advice from dispatchers who refer them to special emergency rooms, which employ GP-s. These centers are an alternative to emergency rooms.