Report of National Audit Office Finds Emergency Medical Aid Inefficient

Sofia, September 28 (BTA) - The emergency medical aid in
Bulgaria is not effective, nor is it efficient, a report of the
National Audit Office (NAO) publicized on Monday says. The
report was issued after an audit of the performance of emergency
 medical aid encompassing the period between January 2010 and
the end of June 2014. The Bulgarian text of the report can be
accessed on NAO's webpage, http://www.bulnao.government.bg/.

The audit checked the performance of the 28 stand-alone centres
for emergency medical aid and the emergency rooms of medical
establishments. One of the findings of the report is that over
the past few years, nearly a third of the population resorts to
emergency medical aid. The demand for emergency medical aid has
been pushed up by the difficult access to out-of-hospital and
hospital care.

Data of the Health Ministry show that in 58 per cent of the
population centres in Bulgaria the ambulance arrival time is up
to 20 minutes, while in 15 per cent of the population centres
this time is over 30 minutes. Ambulances are often unable to
reach about 211,000 people living in remote areas.

The report also recommends updating and executing the national
health map, as well as adopting criteria and standards for
territorial distribution of emergency medical aid facilities.

Nationwide, 7,111 people work in emergency aid, which has 357
mobile crews, of which 75 resuscitation teams, 127 teams of
doctors, 125 first aid teams, and 30 transport teams. There are
also 167 stationary teams.

Medical students are not keen to specialize in emergency care on
 account of the inadequate pay and the high pressure of the
work, the report says. It also notes that outlays for emergency
aid increased 60 per cent in the period under review, to
122,672,000 leva in 2014, from 76,903,500 leva in 2010. Also,
the equipment in emergency aid is obsolete and outdated, with no
 programmes in place for its renewal.

The national 112 emergency call system is working, but the crews
 on duty do not include medical staff, nor there are criteria
for call triaging.