Strasbourg, 19/03/2007 (Agence Europe) - With the adoption of a resolution put forward by German Christian Democrat Karl-Heinz Florenz on behalf of the Committee on the Environment and Public Health, the European Parliament recalled, on Thursday 15 March, the need for a high level of human health protection imposed by the Treaty to all Community policies. With 250 votes in favour, 243 against and 9 abstentions, it welcomes the Commission's initiative to launch consultation procedure on what would be the best form of Community action with a view to creating a framework for cross-border aspects of healthcare.
The Parliament considers that the guarantee of legal certainty when it comes to the reimbursement of cross-border health payments is one of the priority questions for patients and national health insurance systems, as well as for health service providers. It stresses the need to make the procedures and conditions for reimbursement clearer in the different cases. It urges the Commission to define common principles and basic guidelines for healthcare in order to ensure patient safety. It also points out that it is essential to perfect harmonised health indicators at Community level (such as blood test standards) in order to promote exchange of best practice, particularly between health professionals (amendment put forward by British Conservative John Bowis). The Parliament takes the view that the EU must play a key role in improving patient's access to information on cross-border mobility by coordinating cooperation between member states in this field (amendment by Dutch SP member Kartika Tamara Liotard). It also states that patient mobility must remain a matter of patients' free choice and that no pressure must hamper this freedom of choice.
The Parliament stresses the need to ensure patients' safety in all circumstances whatever the location or the way in which healthcare is provided. It calls for the breakdown of responsibilities between the authorities entrusted with supervising healthcare provision to be clearly established, and for an effective exchange of information to be set in place between national authorities when it comes to employing and disciplining healthcare professionals. It considers it is necessary to create a mechanism allowing for appeal in the event of professional medical fault in a cross-border context. The Parliament (1) stresses that, in nearly all cases, healthcare and medical treatment require follow-up that can be extended over a long period of time, and (2) acknowledges the need for clear provisions concerning the sharing of tasks and responsibilities between healthcare providers throughout the various stages of treatment and care. The Parliament considers the introduction of a legislative framework at Community level as the best way to ensure legal certainty for patients, national health systems and for private providers of health services. It considers it is also the best way to encourage the best use of health resources and to accelerate access to treatment. The Parliament calls on the Commission to grant special attention to patient information with regard to their rights and obligations, and to introduce in this respect appropriate provisions in its legislative proposal. On the debate in parliamentary committee, see EUROPE 9376. (oj)