Ministry of Health Denies Suspension of Patient Referrals for Treatment

SadaNews - The Palestinian Ministry of Health announced that it has formed new committees to organize the work of the Medical Service Purchasing Unit (medical referrals), in order to provide services more efficiently and facilitate matters for citizens, denying rumors about the suspension of patient referrals for treatment.

The ministry indicated in a statement issued today, Sunday, that any medical referral starts from government hospitals, through a mechanism aimed at localizing medical services and providing necessary treatment for patients.

The ministry continued that medical referrals are limited to services that are not available within governmental medical facilities.

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It added that if health services are not available in government centers, the Ministry of Health, according to its contracts and agreements, seeks treatment in national private hospitals, and if those are not available, it resorts to regional hospitals, to which patients are referred in case treatment is not available in all national hospitals.

The Ministry of Health clarified that referrals to Israeli hospitals are made according to arrangements by the referral committees, through a special committee that evaluates the health status of patients along with their files and medical reports, where the committee refers cases for which treatment is not available in governmental and national hospitals, according to conditions aimed at regulating referrals and providing efficient treatment for patients, without infringing upon the patient's right to receive treatment.

The Ministry of Health stressed that these procedures serve the interests of the Palestinian patient and regulate the referral file along with monitoring public funds, while simultaneously denying any suspension of patient referrals.