Suljić defends KCUS work, calls MPs' questions shameful

SARAJevo, (Patria) - Director of the Institute for Scientific Research and Development (NIR) of the University Clinical Center Sarajevo Enra Suljić presented the Report on work and financial operations of the University Clinical Center Sarajevo for 2017 at today's session of the Sarajevo Canton Assembly. MPs had the most questions for Suljić, even though reports on the work of 13 other healthcare institutions were being discussed.

MPs were interested in the number of employees, the competencies of certain doctors for demanding surgeries, especially in children, the state of hygiene and patient nutrition, and the quality of services at KCUS.

Suljić rejected claims that numerous doctors left KCUS due to mobbing, stating that they left of their own volition or because they were not allowed to practice dual employment.

One of the questions also concerned the lack of medical supplies, specifically medications that patients have to buy themselves. Suljić also had an answer for this.

- We made savings where there was extravagance before us, but never at the expense of patients. Savings on medications of around KM 1,820,000 are based on lower drug prices - she said, also stating that savings on consumables were made through smart purchasing.

Regarding patient nutrition, data from the 2017 report show a decrease in funds allocated for this purpose compared to previous years, so one MP's question concerned the quality of nutrition. Suljić stated that there were no complaints about the menu and that a nutritionist is responsible for it.

In her address to the MPs, and especially to those who asked questions, Suljić said that they were "politicizing healthcare institutions".

- Your questions are politically motivated and shameful.