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Trade union Solidarity warned on Thursday that it would “strongly oppose” proposed regulations intended to pave the way for the implementation of a so-called “Certificate of Need” for healthcare practitioners.
This followed publication of the regulations in the Government Gazette for comment. In terms of the draft regulations, all healthcare practitioners would apparently have to apply for a certificate to enable them to practice. Accordingly, there would be prescriptions on where and how healthcare practitioners may practice. Solidarity argued that such prescriptive regulations would infringe on both the rights of practitioners and patients and were therefore unconstitutional. Furthermore, they would severely restrict the provision of healthcare services. “This certificate is nothing less than the effective takeover of healthcare practitioners’ practices. By subjecting healthcare practitioners to these regulations, it forces them to surrender themselves to the state and to only practice as pawns, as and where prescribed by the state. These regulations are a blatant exploitation of knowledge and skills to drive the state’s own agenda. This is detrimental to healthcare practitioners and patients whose constitutional rights of freedom of profession and freedom of association are not acknowledged,” said Henru Krüger, Sector Head of the Professional Guild at Solidarity. According to Solidarity, the government was trying to pave the way for the eventual implementation of the proposed National Health Insurance (NHI) through these regulations. “We must do everything in our power to stop further takeover of the entire medical industry by the state,” Krüger said.
- Read Solidarity’s press statement in the above regard at Solidarity News
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