HEALTH MINISTER STRESSES NEED FOR HOSPITAL SERVICES LAW

Jakarta, June 5 (ANTARA) - The occurrence of various patient-versus-hospital cases of late is another reminder of the need for a law regulating hospital services and patient protection, Health Minister Siti Fadilah Supari said.

"Therefore, we hope the House of Representatives (DPR) can soon finalize its deliberations on a bill on hospital services which the government submitted to the House some time ago," the minister said here Friday.

The bill was intended to ensure that hospitals always carry out their tasks and functions in proper ways, and patients are duly protected, she said.

Under provisions in the bill. hospitals that violate the rules in serving patients would be liable to criminal prosecution or civil litigation, she added.

"Of course, the bill was made not only to protect patients but also hotel managements and medical staff working in hospitals," Supari said.

Meanwhile, a member of the House Commission IX which among other things deals with public health affairs, Hakim Sorimuda Pohan, said the commission was now still discussing the bill on hospital services and patient protection proposed by the government.

"We are still discussing it but I can say, we have finished 75 percent of the job. What still needs to be agreed on is among other things the position of state-owned hospitals," he said.

The House commission expected its discussions on the bill to be completed before the present House members' term expired next September, Pohan said.

"The bill among other things provides for sanctions on hospitals that break the rules in serving the public and there is also a special chapter on patient protection," he said.