Brussels, 04/12/2006 (Agence Europe) - The first ministerial round table organised on Wednesday 29 November by the European Commission for analysing the need for a legal instrument on health services in the context of the debate opened by the communication adopted on 26 September this year, highlighted clear tendencies among EU Member States. Except for the Netherlands, which adopts a very special stance as it sees no use for a legal instrument in this field, all States seemed to accept the principle. Many health ministers, however, expressed the wish to extend consideration over and beyond patient mobility. Although they recognised the need to adopt an instrument to ensure legal security, they also hoped there would be reflection on how to ensure legal stability of healthcare systems. In their view, it is a question of preventing the jurisprudence of the Court of Justice, which has made it necessary to find a response regarding patient mobility, from bringing into question the national planning of future health systems. This group of countries includes Germany, Belgium, Denmark, Spain, Finland, France, Luxembourg, Portugal and the United Kingdom.
The debate again brought out the fact that situations differ greatly when it comes to mobility. Countries such as the United Kingdom and Sweden thus hope clear rules will be established concerning reimbursement. These countries, which “export” patients, call for reimbursement to be based on prices practised in the country where care is given. The countries of Central and Eastern Europe see patient mobility as an opportunity in that this would allow them to attract patients - as is already the case in Hungary in particular - thus developing a health services economy. A number of them fear, however, that they could lose their health professionals to regions of the Union where the remuneration is higher.
During the discussion, ministers also returned to the question of “quality care” for which a very large majority preferred to see application of the intergovernmental method, the idea being that any attempt at standardisation through Community means would inevitably lead to averaging out the quality. In order to promote a quality improvement approach, many ministers seemed to give preference to the gradual creation, through intergovernmental cooperation, of centres or networks of reference centres for diagnosis as well as for patient treatment. Member States' experts are expected to continue this discussion mid-January 2007 in Potsdam. (oj)