remove obstacles in bidding activities for public health facilities

Kinhtedothi - According to Deputy Head of the People's Petition Committee Tran Thi Nhi Ha, public facilities face difficulties in bidding, leading to a shortage of drugs and medical equipment, but non-public medical facilities still ensure enough drugs, equipment...

On the afternoon of November 6, continuing the 8th Session, the National Assembly discussed in the hall the Draft Law amending and supplementing a number of articles of the Law on Planning, the Law on Investment, the Law on Investment under the public-private partnership model and the Law on Bidding.

It is difficult to control quality and price when people have to buy medicine outside.

Contributing opinions to the Draft Law, Deputy Head of the Petition Committee Tran Thi Nhi Ha (National Assembly Delegation of Hanoi City) said that, regarding the provisions in Clause 2, Article 55, drug retail establishments at medical examination and treatment facilities are establishments that provide drugs, medical equipment, cosmetics, functional foods and other essential goods within the premises of medical examination and treatment facilities.

According to Deputy Head of the People's Petition Committee Tran Thi Nhi Ha, public facilities face difficulties in bidding, leading to a shortage of medicine and medical equipment, while non-public medical facilities ensure adequate medicine, equipment, etc. Photo: Ho Nhu Y

According to regulations, the hospital pharmacy is fully responsible for its operations under the hospital director's responsibility. Regarding the price of purchased drugs, Decree 155/2018/ND-CP issued by the Government stipulates that hospital pharmacies must purchase drugs at no higher than the winning bid price of that drug at the same time, or no higher than the winning bid price at provincial or central medical facilities within 12 months.

Regarding the selling price of drugs, according to delegate Tran Thi Nhi Ha, Decree No. 54/2017/ND-CP of the Government stipulates the maximum retail margin of all drugs at hospital pharmacies. Due to the nature of hospital pharmacies selling drugs according to the needs of patients, it is not possible to predict the list, quantity, and disease patterns that are constantly changing, so it is very difficult to develop a plan to select contractors. The lack of drugs at hospital pharmacies forces people to buy outside, which is both inconvenient and difficult to control quality and price, affecting the right to access the best medical services.

According to delegate Tran Thi Nhi Ha, the provisions in Clause 1, Article 2 and Clause 2, Article 55 of the Bidding Law have caused a lot of confusion for hospitals because the purchase of drugs by hospital pharmacies also uses legal revenue sources. According to Clause 1, Article 2, all activities of selecting contractors using capital from the legal revenue sources of the unit must apply the Bidding Law, while the provisions in Clause 2, Article 55 allow the facility to decide on its own procurement. When implemented in practice, many health departments and medical examination and treatment facilities have sent official dispatches to the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Planning and Investment reflecting difficulties and inadequacies, requesting guidance on this content.

Delegate Tran Thi Nhi Ha said that the current situation of hospital pharmacies is lacking many types of drugs and medical equipment to serve the needs of patients. In addition to drugs, hospital pharmacies also have a number of other items such as medical equipment, cosmetics, functional foods, supplements, medical nutritional foods, milk, all of which are essential items that directly serve patients and their families.

Delegate Tran Thi Nhi Ha proposed to amend Clause 2, Article 55 as follows: “Regarding the purchase of vaccines for vaccination in the form of services; the purchase of drugs, medical equipment, cosmetics, functional foods, and other essential goods at retail establishments within the premises of public medical examination and treatment facilities, medical examination and treatment facilities are allowed to decide on their own purchases to ensure publicity, transparency, economic efficiency, and accountability without having to apply the forms of contractor selection as prescribed by the Law on Bidding”.

To ensure the logic between the provisions of the Law, delegate Tran Thi Nhi Ha proposed to amend Clause 1, Article 2 as follows: Contractor selection activities using state budget capital according to the provisions of the State Budget Law, capital from legal revenue sources according to the provisions of law of state agencies and public service units (except for the case specified in Clause 2, Article 55 of this Law).

Scene of the 8th Session, 15th National Assembly on the afternoon of November 6. Photo: Quochoi.vn

Paradox between public and non-public health facilities

Regarding the regulations related to training and fostering packages in Article 29 "Selecting contractors in special cases", according to delegate Tran Thi Nhi Ha, the selection of contractors in special cases is applied to "training and fostering packages for specialized professional skills for cadres and civil servants due to the necessity of inviting competent agencies and units or having the function and task of specialized training assigned by competent agencies".

In fields such as education and health, in addition to a small number of civil servants, the sector's workforce is mainly civil servants and contract workers. With current regulations, training and professional development packages for civil servants are not allowed to use the provisions on contractor selection in special cases. Therefore, delegate Tran Thi Nhi Ha proposed to add civil servants and workers to the content of this provision.

In addition, according to delegate Tran Thi Nhi Ha, we are currently witnessing a clear difference in the bidding and procurement of drugs and medical equipment between public and non-public facilities. While public facilities face many difficulties in bidding, leading to a shortage of drugs and medical equipment, non-public medical facilities ensure adequate drugs and equipment, even rare drugs and modern medical equipment.

In addition, although one of the principles of bidding is to ensure economic efficiency, private facilities using conventional procurement methods can purchase some medical equipment at cheaper prices than public facilities. The question of why this is so has not been answered conclusively and remains a major challenge for bidding.

Therefore, delegate Tran Thi Nhi Ha proposed to add a provision in the Bidding Law requiring not only public facilities but also private medical facilities to post information on procurement results, which is also an important database of value in management and reference, creating transparency and limiting negative aspects in bidding, ensuring adequate medicine and medical equipment for medical examination and treatment.

Source: https://kinhtedothi.vn/db-quoc-hoi-go-vuong-hoat-dong-dau-thau-cho-co-so-y-te-cong-lap.html