Health ministry hit by corruption claims

Health ministry hit by corruption claims

JAKARTA (JP): An official from a consumer health protection
body said on Tuesday that corrupt ministry officials continued to
impede hospitals from securing Ministry of Health accreditation.

Marius Wijayarta of the Consumers Health Protection Foundation
said the foundation had received complaints from seven hospitals.
They claimed they had been "forced" by officials from the
ministry's accreditation committee to pay money before the
accreditation certificates would be granted.

"The tariff set by the hospital accreditation committee
varies. A small hospital must pay up to Rp 12.5 million
(US$1,602.6), while a bigger one pays about Rp 50 million,"
Marius told The Jakarta Post.

He said the committee comprised officials from the Ministry of
Health and medical and science professionals, but that the
committee was "dominated by ministry personnel".

He said that in many cases the committee members skipped
several accreditation procedural stages, permitting some
hospitals to obtain the certificates without following due
process.

A normal accreditation process comprises four stages: input,
process, output and impact.

Marius said a hospital could pass the input stage if it had
all basic hospital facilities, including an emergency room,
adequate medical equipment, good management and proper medical
record systems.

"It is possible that a hospital, which has passed the input
stage, may not obtain the certificate if its medical equipment
fails to meet client satisfaction, meaning that it has failed to
meet the impact stage standard," he said.

Separately, Minister of Health Farid Anfasa Moeloek said he
would verify the reports with the committee.

"I will take firm action if the reports are true," Farid said
on Tuesday after addressing a seminar on the government's health
policy in the year 2010 at City Hall.

He said information about the corrupt practices was news to
him.

"It's been a common practice in the country that staff only
report good things," he said.

Head of the city office of the Ministry of Health, Deddy
Ruswendi, strongly denied the report.

"There is no such practice. The truth is that management of
hospitals paid for the transportation expenses of the
accreditation committee members, but not more than that," he
said.

Deddy said there were 48 accredited hospitals, out of a total
of 95 state and privately owned city hospitals. (ind)