DANS, complaint, children's hospital, investigation… State Agency "National Security" (DANS) summons the members of the Public Council for explanations on the construction of the National Children's Hospital. The reason is a complaint filed by the "Commercial League" because of the postponed project for the construction of a private children's hospital "Mommy and Me" in Sofia. Maria Brestnička from the National Children's Network and a member of the Public Council for the construction of the National Children's Hospital spoke to FAKTI.
- Mrs. Brestnička, why did you come to the attention of DANS and the service is so interested in the members of the Public Council, which is being formed regarding the construction of the National Children's Hospital?
- You are asking me exactly the question that the members of the Public Council at the National Children's Hospital are also very interested in. For us, the fact that DANS investigates on the basis of a private complaint and undertakes operational-search actions without clarity on what motive is this is disturbing. That sounds a lot like intimidation.
- What do they want from you, what information are they looking for…
- As far as I understand, the main questions are related to the statements of the members of the Public Council and the position that we - as its members - have expressed with these statements. Of course, our statements are public and accessible, discoverable in various media and based on publicly available data from various sources. What worries us, however, is that until now we do not know exactly what is written in the signal, on the basis of which we are accustomed, because, although we have asked for it verbally, we still do not have a copy of it. We are about to request it in writing, because at least we need to know what is written in this signal.
- How many times were you introduced to DANCE on the subject?
- I have a summons. The other members of the Public Council also received one. Interestingly, only members of the Public Council receive such subpoenas. Other public figures - including the President Rumen Radev, including the co-chairman of the DPS Delyan Peevski, who expressed similar opinions about the annulled decision of the Council of Ministers to allow the construction of the private hospital "Mama and I" are not known to be accustomed.
- How long has the complaint been pending and how long has the entire procedure been going on for you to receive subpoenas…
- It's hard for me to tell you because I haven't seen the signal yet. I have no idea how long the procedure has been in progress. We still cannot see this signal, and this is part of the basic rights of every citizen of the Republic of Bulgaria.
- How is the procedure for the construction of the National Children's Hospital progressing?
- Several main processes are currently underway. First of all, three key documents are currently being drawn up with the help of the European Investment Bank. This is extremely important, because Bulgaria has not created such a large project as the National Children's Hospital in the field of health care for decades. These documents refer to the structure of the hospital, its connection with other units - hospital and pre-hospital, as well as the equipment. Without the conclusions of these documents, we have no way of knowing exactly what this hospital should be in order to be able to respond to the needs of children. Regarding the terrain that was chosen in Gorna Banya next to Orthopedics, the buildings are currently being demolished to make way for the future construction. However, this construction will take place once we have clarity on exactly what the National Children's Hospital should be, once we have the data from these documents and based on them, a project of the building itself can be created.
What we are demanding from the Public Council is that during the time the documents are being prepared and the ground is being prepared, solutions should also be sought for other key issues.
The staffing issue, because you know we're in a situation of a staffing crisis in pediatric care, we don't have enough pediatricians, we don't have enough pediatric nurses.
To seek answers to the questions related to the infrastructural connectivity of a hospital - when and in what way the expansion of the ring road will be done so that it can reach the hospital, when the subway will be able to reach the hospital so that it is easily clean physically for the children and their parents who do not have cars but use public transport. The third, very important thing to prepare during this time is to make decisions about the status of the hospital – for its legal status, including allowing it to be a University Hospital. To make a plan for the existing children's clinics in other hospitals in Sofia, because they cannot just physically get up and move - this needs to be planned and including clarity about their legal status. All that we are insisting on are questions that were also raised in meetings with the previous health minister and with the current acting minister, Dr. Galya Kondeva. It is necessary for the Ministry of Health to seek answers to these questions within the framework of the plan for the construction of the children's hospital, which was adopted by the National Assembly at the beginning of this year at the initiative of the Public Council.