Canton Sarajevo Health Centre receives uniforms: Poor material quality, skirts too tight, room for inspection too

(Patria) - Healthcare workers at the Public Institution Health Centre of Sarajevo Canton are disappointed and angry with the institution's management, led by doc. dr. Abel Baltić, after receiving new uniforms for work.

Since last night, photos of healthcare workers dressed in uniforms have been spreading on social media, in which they look more like anything other than doctors, nurses, and technicians, writes Faktor. 

These uniforms were also written about by Fokus.ba a few days ago. 

Violated the code of medical ethics

"We look like prisoners," "Those serving time in the Zenica Correctional Facility are better dressed," "I will never wear this. Shame! It's enough that I work on an 18th-century (dental) chair, while earning about 300,000 KM annually for the Health Centre of Sarajevo Canton," "This is horrible, proof of how devalued we are. I got a skirt one size too small with a deep neckline, and I asked for trousers. It's not appropriate to see a hotel receptionist working in a tight skirt, let alone nurses providing services to a sick population at a public institution. If it weren't sad, it would be pathetic! The white coat has ethics and is worn with pride, but this uniform tramples the code of medical ethics"... these are just some of the comments from healthcare workers on social media.

Jasmin Avdović, president of the Basic Trade Union Organisation of the Public Institution Health Centre (OSOJUDZ) of Sarajevo Canton, says that everyone received one uniform each: white and dark blue for higher-educated healthcare staff, and light blue for secondary-educated healthcare staff.

- The material composition is 65 percent polyester and 35 percent cotton, it's like you've pulled a tarpaulin over yourself. I am a physiotherapist and cannot work in long sleeves; the trousers, even though we all wrote down what size we need, I had to roll up twice because they are too long. For my female colleagues who chose skirts instead of trousers, honestly, I don't know how they will walk, unless they've taken an advanced course in geisha walking, because they are terribly tight.

In the tender procedure document, it was indicated that the uniforms could be washed at 60 degrees Celsius; on the uniforms we received now, it says 40. I am forbidden from drying them in a dryer, so I got one, and if I get it dirty, what will I work in? How, specifically for my job, will oil stains from the litres of oil we use be washed at 40 degrees Celsius, and dried by tomorrow or the same day, since I don't have another one in the locker? - says Avdović.

That such uniforms pose a health threat to the safety of employees has been the position of OSOJUDZKS since the beginning of last month, and they informed the management of the health institution, to whom they submitted a request in which, in accordance with the Law on Occupational Safety of the Federation of BiH and the Law on the Workers' Council of the FBiH, they expressed dissatisfaction and opposition to this decision.

- Honestly, we didn't expect them not to listen to us. From management, we receive information that anyone who does not comply with the new uniform procedure, i.e., does not wear them, will face disciplinary action. We haven't made a final decision yet, but there are two options - either we demand that all uniforms be returned, and let them discipline 2,000 people, or we proudly wear the uniforms, notify the inspection that, when we send them to the laundry for washing, until they return, we have nothing to work in. Then let the shame and disgrace of the largest primary healthcare institution in the country be seen - adds Avdović.

The Management Board of the Union of Doctors of Medicine and Dentistry of Sarajevo Canton has scheduled a meeting for next Thursday to decide what to do with the uniforms.

- The uniforms do not meet the quality standards for employees, whose views the employer must respect - said prim. dr. Izet Hočko, president of the Union.

Elvedin Vatreš, president of the Professional Union of Nurses and Technicians of Sarajevo Canton, says that in his 30 years of service, he has never seen anyone "marking" employees in healthcare institutions by colour based on their level of education.

- In my opinion, a healthcare worker should wear a white uniform; everything else is discrimination. Furthermore, we received very low-quality uniforms. Our colleagues mostly buy their own uniforms; our Union has signed contracts with some companies so we can buy in instalments. I am not humiliating anyone, but these uniforms look like prison uniforms - Vatreš emphasised.

After the publication of the tender procedure at the beginning of August last year, two bidders came forward, and at the end of last year, the Public Institution Health Centre of Sarajevo Canton signed a contract for the procurement of uniforms with the company Greensoft d.o.o. from Zenica, according to the response Faktor received from this health institution at the beginning of January. They told us then that the purchase of 7,120 clothing items (blouses, shirts, trousers, vests, coats) was carried out after a public procurement procedure, with all legal procedures respected, and the contract, published on the Public Procurement Portal, amounts to 399,496.50 KM including VAT.

On the company's website, it states "that they are engaged in the production of textile products and that they prioritise health and comfort."

As the company director in the text published at this link, Hatidža Šarić-Tufekčić is mentioned, a member of the People and Justice party, who was on the candidate list of this party in the elections held last year for the Assembly of the Zenica-Doboj Canton.

Online, photos of Hatidža Šarić-Tufekčić in the company of the president of the People and Justice party, Elmedin Konaković, can be found.

In the text, Šarić-Tufekčić states that "before starting the business, she worked for some time as a translator, but wanted to work for herself, to have working hours adapted to her family and obligations outside of work."

- We produce all types of medical - work uniforms, equipment for clinics and hospitals. In addition, we produce cloth diapers for babies, sanitary pads for women, nursing pillows, and other baby products such as bedding, pillows for nursing mothers and pregnant women, anti-colic cushions, and we are currently also producing masks - said Šarić-Tufekčić, signed in the text as the director of this company, who is a Turkologist by profession.

We intended to hear what the director of the company that supplied the uniforms thinks about all this, but to our inquiry, a man who answered the phone number listed on the Greensoft d.o.o. Zenica website briefly replied:

- Don't insult us. Hatidža Šarić-Tufekčić is not our director, she doesn't work here, and don't call again.

We also called Hatidža Šarić-Tufekčić.

- I am not involved in that story and I cannot tell you anything. I am not employed at that company; I work at the company "Braća Karić" - said Šarić-Tufekčić and ended the phone call.

What does General Director Baltić say?

What does doc. dr. Abel Baltić, General Director of the Public Institution Health Centre of Sarajevo Canton, say about all this? At the beginning of the response, which we received in written form, Baltić reminds that "the notice on the procurement of uniforms for employees was published on 5 August 2022 on the Portal of the Public Procurement Agency." However, as he further adds, "immediately after the publication, a technical error was noticed in that the Portal application did not mark that it was a reserved contract."

- Given that in the Public Procurement Plan for 2022, the procedure was envisaged in accordance with Article 9 of the Law on Public Procurement as a reserved contract, and that the tender documentation also indicated that it was a reserved contract, the Notice was amended on the same day. Furthermore, the extension of the deadline for submission of bids and public opening was due to a complaint filed against the tender documentation, which was forwarded to the Office for Complaints Review, and after the Decision of the Office for Complaints Review, which dismissed the complaint as unfounded, a new date for the submission of bids and public opening of bids had to be scheduled - states Baltić and adds:

- Regarding the objection to the material composition, we inform you that the bidder, at our request, submitted a Report of laboratory analysis from Bosnainspekt d.o.o. Sarajevo, which stated that the offered material composition of 65 percent polyester, 35 percent cotton in the tender documentation is acceptable for the production of uniforms for employees, and ISO 9001:2015 and ISO 14001:2015 certificates were also submitted. The company Greensoft Zenica duly submitted documents in the tender documentation proving that 50 percent of its employees are persons with disabilities. The entire public procurement procedure is available on the Portal of the Public Procurement Agency and in the database of the Office for the Fight against Corruption - says Baltić.

He states that he is not familiar with the ownership structure of the supplier.

Along with the response to Faktor's inquiry, Baltić's office also provided the findings of the laboratory analysis from Bosnainspekt doo Sarajevo, which shows that the stated material is acceptable for the production of uniforms for medical workers.