Minister Memişoğlu makes statement on 'newborn commission'

Health Minister Prof. Dr. Kemal Memişoğlu made statements regarding the current agenda in Antalya.

Asserting that Turkey is one of the countries where citizens have the easiest access to healthcare services, Minister Memişoğlu said, “We provide one of the most comprehensive healthcare services in the world. Our primary goal is preventive medicine and primary healthcare services. We are working to ensure that our citizens stay healthy without getting sick. To put it more strikingly; we are a Ministry of Health, not a ministry of illness. For this, first and foremost, we need to make the family medicine system effective and efficient. We trust our family physicians and see them as the guarantee of our health. We want the family physician to be the first door our citizens reach for health, and we expect our family physicians to keep their finger on the pulse of health,” he said.

“WE ARE NOT ELIMINATING THE FREEDOM TO PRESCRIBE”

Speaking about the new Family Medicine Regulation published in the Official Gazette in recent days, Minister Memişoğlu continued as follows:

“For this, we have prepared a regulation and shared it with the public. This regulation will satisfy both our citizens and our healthcare workers in terms of its results. This will be seen much more clearly within a few months. Unfortunately, we live in an age of disinformation. Perceptions, not facts, can be decisive. On various social media platforms, claims are being made that family physicians will no longer be able to prescribe medication and that deductions will be made from their salaries if they do. Let me state this clearly; the new family medicine regulation we announced as the Ministry of Health does not interfere with the diagnosis and treatment of family physicians; on the contrary, as the Ministry of Health, we encourage rational drug practices. We provide an additional incentive payment to the salaries of our family physicians who contribute to rational drug use and we support our physicians. The goal is for patients to use the most appropriate medication in the appropriate dose and duration according to their diagnosis. We do not want you to use medication based on the advice of your relatives. Unfortunately, most of us have unused or half-used medications in our homes; I recommend that you use medication in line with the recommendations of your family physician.”

“WE ARE INCREASING THE INCOME OF OUR FAMILY PHYSICIANS WHO PRACTICE GOOD MEDICINE”

Noting that irrational drug use causes people to develop resistance to some drugs, Prof. Dr. Kemal Memişoğlu said, “In the smart family medicine practice, we worked specifically according to the disease burden. We are integrating family physicians with hospitals. Therefore, we are creating appointment quotas for our family physicians in our hospitals. We made a start through family medicine with a value-based approach in health. We have clearly set out the criteria for success. We are increasing the income of our family physicians who practice good medicine. We see them as the crown jewels of us and society,” he expressed.

"NEW STEP AFTER THE NEWBORN GANG INVESTIGATION"

Also making statements regarding the 'Newborn Gang' issue, where it was determined that individuals working at the 112 Emergency Call Center in Istanbul acted in collusion to refer emergency infant patients to neonatal units of private hospitals they had pre-arranged with, causing deaths and gaining illicit profit, Prof. Dr. Kemal Memişoğlu stated that they have established an audit and scientific evaluation commission with Turkey's leading neonatal intensive care experts and that they will re-evaluate the operations of all neonatal intensive care units in private and public hospitals from start to finish. Prof. Dr. Kemal Memişoğlu included the following statements:

"We have recently established a neonatal intensive care audit and scientific evaluation commission to evaluate the operations of all neonatal care in public and private hospitals, which has concerned the public in recent days and whose pain we still feel. This commission, composed of Turkey's leading neonatal intensive care scientists, will follow, examine, and audit the operational and inspection processes of neonatal intensive care units in all university, private, and public hospitals, and will ensure the more effective functioning of the system according to the results obtained from audit activities. New scientific guidelines regarding neonatal intensive care will be created by the commission. Our goal is to continue to maintain good, effective, reliable, and qualified healthcare services. Together with other branches where experts, physicians, and academics are involved in their fields, we will also audit our emergency and adult intensive care units with such scientific commissions and ensure their continued operation."

News Source: İHA