Patients Rights at Turbulent Times
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Patients Rights at Turbulent Times
- 1. Patient Rights in Turbulent Times Kathi Apostolidis Breast Cancer & Patient Rights Advocate www.esmo2012.org
- 3. How Public Spending Cuts Impact on Frontline Cancer Care? • 90 respondents from 20 of the 27 European member states. • 10% no impact on the quality of cancer care • 40% some impact • 35% quite an impact • 15% a huge impact www.esmo2012.org
- 4. How Public Spending Cuts Impact Access to Therapies (regardless of speed of access)? • 35% no impact • 36% some impact • 25% quite an impact www.esmo2012.org
- 5. How Public Spending Cuts Impact On Surgery or Radiotherapy? • 40% quite an impact • 20% no impact On Waiting Times to See a Specialist? • 25% some impact • 30% quite an impact www.esmo2012.org
- 6. Healthcare pictures from Greece www.esmo2012.org
- 7. EOPYY-National Organization for the Provision of Healthcare Services • Established in 2011 • Includes the 4 major social insurance funds • 9,5million insured out of a population of 10,7million • accumulated debt of funds for the years 2009-2011 reaches 3,5billion euro • Outstanding debts 2.1 to healthcare providers including pharma www.esmo2012.org
- 8. Patients helping each other www.esmo2012.org
- 9. BIG ISSUE Shortage of medicines Pharma stopped deliveries Governments owe them huge debts The Victim of the Game Patients at distress www.esmo2012.org
- 10. Cancer Patients navigating the healthcare system A doctor tends a helping hand… www.esmo2012.org
- 11. The Healthcare Tsunami www.esmo2012.org
- 12. What can patients do? What can their European umbrella organizations do? What the European Commission can do? www.esmo2012.org
- 13. Thank you for your attention Kathi Apostolidis-Breast Cancer & Patient Rights Advocate Volunteer Sector Consultant & Health Commentator @kgapo, #opnhealth thwww.facebook.com/kathiapostolidis www.facebook.com/#opnhealth http://www.linkedin.com/in/kathiapostolidis CREDITS: Art Work from Regina Holliday's Medical Advocacy Blog A place where art, medicine, social media and pop-culture collide and create a patient voice in health information technology. www.esmo2012.org
- 14. Disclosure slide • No conflicts of Interest to declare www.esmo2012.org
Editor's Notes
- The article presents and comments the results of a recent survey of CancerWorld about how public spending cuts in European healthcare systems are impacting on frontline cancer care. The survey was carried among the readership of CancerWorld and attracted responses from 20 of the 27 European member states.. The results of the survey are shown in the following slides, where you see that the majority of respondents confirmed in spring that public spending cuts affected considerably frontline cancer care
- Greece is the country where the most drastic cuts were imposed on healthcare expenditure but Spain, Italy, Portugal follow close by as patients report… Oncology care is among the most expensive ones and one of those whose cost grows steadily in the last 20 years, as a result of science and technology advancements. This means also that it is one of the first to experience the effects of the economic crisis. Cancer patients are and will continue to be among the most hit patient groups by the healthcare budget cuts that in Greece at least seem to have no end.. There was no doubt that the Greek healthcare system needed rationalization but now it is heading towards a total collapse due to the flood of horizontal spending cuts without discrimination. Ironically, these cuts are being “marketed” to the citizens as measures towards the improvement of healthcare delivery
- European cancer patients will suffer bitterly in the years to come, Greece is about to vote these days for another 13,5billion euro of horizontal cuts in salaries and pensions, huge increases in taxation, in healthcare more than 1,4billion are said to be further cut. Spain has announced 40billion in spending cuts, France Follows. On the other hand, more than one European government are very concerned by the cost of their healthcare systems and rush to impose spending cuts as in the Netherlands, where it was announced that patients will pay a higher contribution for expensive medicines. The translation of the austerity measures for the cancer patients who mostly use the public health care system means: - Very long waiting times for appointments with surgeons and oncologists, exceeding the 2months and half - Very long waiting times to plainly not fixing time for surgery - Waiting times for radiotherapy reaching/exceeding three months in public hospitals - financial inability to consult in emergency a private oncologist or buy privately their medicines, due to unemployment, very low income due to reduction of salaries and pensions by 30-45% and to the imposition of heavy taxation.
- Taking Greece as example, the constitution provides that the state takes care of the health of citizens and the first article of the patient rights legislation that the patient has access to most suitable hc provider for his disease. In my humbe opinion, the above legal provisions are not withstanding and void of any practical meaning for the cancer and other patients, as the state fails its basic obligations towards the patiens, not making available medicines and ot her therapies, increasing the cost of healthcareducing the numbers of doctors, closing down hospitals, to point healthcare becomes non accessible to the most vulnerable social groups. Taking about concepts when patients need the basic: medicines, doctors to consult, hospitals to be treated, is clearly outside the interests of the membership of patients organizations. They expect us to take some concrete actions for assuring the basics, for safeguarding the right to decent healthcare. The reduction and abolition of the long established social insurance benefits iic increases the public health risks and feeds social problems.