The law initiated after the scandal at St. Pantelimon Hospital was adopted by the Parliament. “A necessary change for patient safety,” says one of the initiators
Hospital. Illustrative image. Photo source: Inquam Photos / Virgil Simonescu
Hospitals will be obliged by law to install panic buttons in all beds in the salons “in a place accessible to the patient”, as well as video cameras in the intensive care sections (ATI) and emergency reception (UPU and CPU). The law passed the Parliament on Tuesday.
“It is a necessary change for the safety of patients and for transparency in hospitals in Romania,” says USR deputy Emanuel Ungureanu, one of the initiators.
Video cameras will have to be placed in such a way as to ensure “continuous monitoring of medical activities, without compromising the intimacy of patients”.
The video recordings will be stored for 60 days, exclusively for monitoring the quality of the medical act, investigating any incidents or ensuring the security of patients and medical staff, according to the text of the law.
“A video surveillance camera in the hospital in the area of the Intensive Care section at St. Pantelimon Hospital could have immediately clarified any institution of the Romanian state that happened there,” said the deputy Emanuel Ungureanu, in a dialogue with Hotnews, at the time of the draft law in Parliament.
Also, all state and private hospitals should be forced to install “and keep in operation” panic buttons every salon in which patients are admitted.
They will have to be mounted “in a place accessible to patients”, having the role of allowing “the rapid signaling of a medical emergency or an imminent danger to the medical and security staff of the hospital”.
The law also provides for sanctions for hospitals that will not comply: fines between 10,000 and 30,000 lei.
Research for charges of murder, at St. Pantelimon Hospital
In April last year, the director of care of St. Pantelimon Hospital accused that 17 patients admitted to the Intensive Care section died, in just four days, as a result of voluntary reduction, by the medical staff, the dose of noradrenaline – a neurotransmitter used to increase or maintain blood pressure.
The prosecutors of the Prosecutor's Office of the Bucharest Court then opened a criminal case for the crime of murder in this case. The investigation is still in progress.
