Problems of licensing of private healthcare facilities in Ukraine

Abstract

The article examines the problems faced by the private sector in obtaining licences to conduct medical practice. The author focuses on both private healthcare facilities and individual entrepreneurs engaged in medical practice.

The author notes that the public healthcare sector alone is not capable to fully satisfy the population’s demand for affordable and high-quality medical services, and therefore the growth of the number of private healthcare facilities is inevitable. Analysing the data of the Licensing Register of the Ministry of Health of Ukraine for medical practice, the author notes that more than 60 per cent of all licences were issued to the private sector, but the lion’s share of them (85 per cent) were issued to individual entrepreneurs.

The author shares the opinion that only private healthcare facilities are subject to real state regulation in the form of licensing and control with the possibility of administrative and economic sanctions, including cancellation of licences.

The author, in particular, draws attention to the contradictory requirements of the Licensing Conditions regarding staffing of license applicants, who, on the one hand, must submit information on the available staff to obtain a licence, and, on the other hand, must conclude contracts with these employees within a month after obtaining a licence.

The author has studied the circumstances of some court cases where the plaintiffs challenged the decisions of the Ministry of Health of Ukraine to revoke the licence. In the analysed cases, the court satisfied the plaintiffs’ claims and found the cancellation of licences to be groundless.

The author also draws attention to the need to regulate the activities of so-called hospital funds, which are correlated with the activities of healthcare facilities but are not subject to licensing.

The author comes to the conclusion that licensing plays a very important role in the establishment and operation of a private healthcare facility, but the current system has numerous inaccuracies and inconsistencies with the practical state of affairs and creates significant pressure on private facilities, which may lead to negative trends in the development of the private healthcare market.