On Tuesday, following the submission of a bill proposing several changes to the structure of hospitals and the national health card, Luxembourg’s Minister of Health, Lydia Mutsch, presented the initiative’s main structure to the Chamber of Deputies (Luxembourg's Parliament).
Minister Mutsch’s hospital bill aims to integrate the development of a medical framework into legislative text and change a law which was last modified in 1998. The proposed structure itself aims to both advance cooperation between different healthcare providers and promote a more efficient manner of using available resources, all the while improving the quality of care which patients receive. Indeed, the Minister of Health described this as being “at the heart of our concerns and we must guarantee fair access for all citizens to high-quality medical care.”
Most notably, the new law will change certain hospital terms, operational procedures, financing for buildings or modernising hospital infrastructure, as well as the layout of hospital laboratories and pharmaceutical services. It also encompasses the creation of a medical information service in each hospital across the Grand Duchy.
In regard to the health card, this is to be updated every two years whilst evaluations concerning national health needs, hospital services, and the number of facilities and beds, will be extended to a ten-year period. The above services are currently being put under pressure by demographic changes and the aging population which is likely to continue into the next decade at least.
In light of such pressures, another essential element depicted in the new hospital framework is an increase in better-quality outpatient surgery services. This not only provides added comfort for patients who can go home on the same day as their operation, but also frees up beds for others who need them. Finally, Mutsch’s new law will determine the maximum number of authorised beds depending on different categories of hospital facilities.
The new law is set to come into force at the beginning of 2017.
