Director of the Clinical Center of Montenegro, Ljiljana Radulović, summarizing the previous year for Portal RTCG, says that during 2022, almost 100% more examinations were performed compared to the period before the corona. According to her, the largest health institution received less than one percent of complaints in relation to the number of services provided. She pointed out that KCCG supports supplementary work of doctors in private clinics, but according to clearly defined terms.
KCCG responded professionally to the challenges
Radulović says that she is satisfied with the previous year and that the institution, thanks to the superhuman efforts of its employees, answered all the challenges of today in a very professional manner.
– We will best present the results of that dedicated work with statistical data. Thus, from January to the beginning of December 2022, about 1.2 million health services were provided in KCCG, of which about 600,000 were provided only in the clinics of the Polyclinic – she said.
If we know that there are currently 590 doctors working at KCCG, the conclusion is that each doctor examined 1,200 patients in the Polyclinic alone this year.
– This is just one segment that we perform every day, because apart from 100 outpatients, we work every day in clinics treating hospitalized patients, on call, we work in the Emergency Center and in the operating rooms. So, during 2022, we performed almost 100 percent more examinations at the Polyclinic than in the period before the corona virus – she said.
Specifically, three years ago, about 350,000 examinations were performed at the Polyclinic, while, as she explains, this year in 11 months, that number has almost doubled.
She also points out that before the pandemic, there were around 14,000 operations per year, and this year, during the first 11 months, as many as 15,000 operations were performed.
– In the same period, almost five thousand invasive procedures were performed in the angiosal (catheterization, stent placement, thrombus removal, Pace Maker installation, etc.) – said the director of KCCG.
They received 481 complaints, most of which were complaints about waiting lists
Radulović said that the number of complaints from patients or their family members to the protector of patients’ rights (ZPP) of the KCCG is stable and that in relation to the number of services provided, it is below one percent.
– In 2022, we recorded a total of 737 appeals to ZPP, of which 481 were complaints, while the other 256 appeals were for advice, consultation, information or assistance. As in previous years, this year too, the most complaints were about the length of waiting for health services – she said.
She pointed out that the management carefully analyzes all complaints, not only to ZPP, but also those sent via infomail (contact on the KCCG website) and their social networks, and when it is determined that it is justified, measures are taken and actions for their elimination.
– We carefully analyze all the suggestions and proposals of our citizens, all with the aim of improving the provision of health services, to the mutual satisfaction of both patients and employees. Only with joint efforts, mutual understanding and respect can we improve not only the functioning of our institution, but the entire Montenegrin healthcare system – she said.
Allow doctors to work privately on defined terms
The management of KCCG, as Radulović says, bearing in mind the salary increase in health care from January 1, 2022, and then the regulation of coefficients in July 2022, supports the discussions and negotiations of colleagues and hopes for a compromise solution when it comes to the private hiring of doctors .
She emphasizes that the administration of KCCG is the only one among all public health institutions, which has publicly determined itself according to this topic.
– In particular, we believe that doctors from public health should be allowed to, after working hours, perform additional work in private practice according to pre-defined terms. If it is completely transparent and if the doctor, on the basis of pre-defined appointments and after working hours, prescribes in a private health institution, I consider that a good compromise solution – pointed out Radulović.
Three clinics worth around EUR 15 million are under construction
Radulović points out that during 2022, he made it possible to introduce new procedures that were only done abroad until now.
– The construction of the Mental Health Clinic, a project worth around six million euros, is progressing as planned and rough construction works are already nearing completion. Recently, with the laying of the foundation stone, we made official the beginning of the construction of the building that will house two clinics, the Clinic for Infectious Diseases and the Clinic for Dermatovenerology, for which the EU allocated eight and a half million euros. Therefore, we are building three clinics worth around EUR 15 million – she said.
In addition, departments were renovated, some of which were renovated for the first time since the construction of the main building back in 1974.
– Thus, after renovating the operating block of the Institute for Children’s Diseases (IBD) and the Center for Clinical Laboratory Diagnostics in 2021, this year we renovated the Center for Plastic, Reconstructive and Aesthetic Surgery, the Center for Physical Medicine Rehabilitation and the Center for Food Preparation and Distribution . In addition, we recently received equipment for the Center for Neonatology, and earlier the pediatric ophthalmology outpatient clinic was renovated – she said.
They will train for extremely demanding operations
By renovating the department and acquiring new equipment, along with staff education, Radulović hopes that KCCG will rank among the rare European institutions where minimally invasive video-assisted cardiac surgery is performed. Thanks to the cooperation with colleagues from Italy, they expect that within a year all doctors will be trained to independently perform these extremely demanding interventions, which will enable KCCG to become a reference institution for patients from abroad to come to us for treatment.
– This year, the most complex bladder augmentation operations in the field of pediatric urology were performed for the first time in IBD, and for the first time, the surgical procedure “closure of the opening” on the nasal septum using a silicone prosthesis was performed. For the first time, an operation for a congenital diaphragm defect was performed using a new method In Montenegro – minimally invasive surgery – boasted Radulović.
She pointed out that starting this year, the KCCG also conducts mutation analyzes of the most common tumors, so there is no longer a need to send the findings abroad.
Proud of inter-institutional cooperation
For the improvement of the health system, he adds, inter-institutional cooperation is also very important.
– It is of inestimable importance to continue the cooperation, which was intensified during this year, with hospitals in Berlin, Munich and Paris. I am especially proud of the more than successful collaboration with colleagues from Germany from the Robert Koch Institute and the Charite Hospital. Apart from the fact that our doctors are trained in Berlin, it is certain that, thanks to our colleagues from Germany, we will in the future become the regional center of telemedicine in the Western Balkans. For the procurement of the first PET CT in Montenegro, we are cooperating intensively with colleagues from the International Atomic Energy Agency – concluded the Director of KCCG, local media reported.
