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With all current and future healthcare reforms, there is one fundamental question that underlies them all: is our healthcare just a business or is it a guaranteed service to protect citizens’ lives and well-being? Which way leads to Dr. Jekyll and which one to Mr. Hide? Citizens’ right to life is one of the basic principles of the European Welfare states. Governments are protecting their citizens with armies, social services and, last… Read More

  I remember sitting in the Intensive Care Unit (ISU) attending a patient after cardio surgery. The usually quiet atmosphere of ISU was interrupted by electrifying fuss: the physician on duty was peeping into the corridor, the assistant was nervously sorting patients’ charts. It was clear that the Doctors’ Round was about to start. Indeed, in about 10 minutes the doors of ISU opened wide and He appeared: the Chief Medical Doctor,… Read More

Patient engagement is said to be the prerequisite to improve the European health system. With the rapid growth of aging population and cumulative costs for hospitalization, patients are expected to take over part of the burden by actively controlling their own health. But practices in many European hospitals still contradict those brilliant intentions. As soon as you cross hospital’s threshold you are stripped not only of your personal belongings, but of your… Read More