Quality of health services in Chechnya: polls and reality

The territorial Fund of Mandatory Medical Insurance (FMMI) of the Chechen Republic has summed up a sociology poll, conducted in 2009 in treatment-and-prophylactic establishments (T&PEs). According to these data, over 60 percent of respondents-hospital patients expressed their satisfaction with the quality of services.

"Last week the FMMI summed up the sociology poll conducted last year among patients of the T&PEs of the republic. Questions were asked in 28 medical institutions, and 3995 persons in total were interviewed. Besides, the questionnaires were placed in the website of the Territorial FMMI and attracted about two thousand respondents," said the spokesman of the local Ministry of Public Health.

According to his story, 63 percent of T&PE patients and 75 percent of website respondents were satisfied with the work of medical institutions and quality of health services.

However, many residents of the republic still have serious claims to medical workers. People are not happy, first of all, with their need to pay doctors and personnel.

"We need to recognize that the majority of our hospitals today work much better than some two-three years ago. Repairs were made everywhere, it's much cleaner and more comfortable in the wards; however, the problems of staff, professionalism of doctors and personnel, bribery and graft by separate medical workers still remain. The quality of services has also changed for the better in recent years, but it's still far from normal," said Isa, a local NGO activist.