Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2005-06-07-Speech-2-354"
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"en.20050607.31.2-354"2
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".
Mr President, Mr Bowis is correct in that I have a bit of a nasty stomach problem today. He is right: I am a mobile patient myself. I am very interested in following the debate. I wanted to be here personally because I consider this to be a very important issue, something that we all have to work on in the next few years. The rapporteur is right that people are ahead of us in this respect.
Even though I am not feeling well today, I cannot think of a better place to be, with so many doctors around this evening for this discussion! I feel confident enough in that respect.
I will listen very carefully to the debate and the comments that will be made by the honourable Members. I am very happy that, based on the report, we are thinking along the same lines. I should like to thank the rapporteur, Mr Bowis, for his work on, and the effort he has put into, this report. I welcome it and the support it offers to the Commission for the work that we are trying to do on this issue. There are some issues that we need to take further. Judging by what we have included in our proposal for the new health programme, the terms of reference and the work done by the high-level group on health show that this is along the same lines as the proposal of the report.
The target has to be that a citizen can get the highest level of healthcare in his or her own country. That should be the rule. Nevertheless, things change. People such as myself travel because of business or because they have to wait a long time in their own country or because the specific treatment required is not offered in their country, or even more so, because they feel that they can get better care elsewhere. That is a reality and something that we have to deal with. It is not always possible, and that is why there is a need for legal certainty. That is the very first requirement, with which I agree. However, the reality is that people travel and we have to travel for health.
I heard about an interesting report today, which says that the Polish medical healthcare system has started receiving patients from Germany and the UK. That is welcome in the sense that it will boost the budget of the healthcare system in Poland, provided that it is not at the cost of Polish patients. That is very important.
We will work on final solutions: we take on board that message from the report, but this must always be done in conformity with the principle of subsidiarity and the principle that healthcare services are in the competence of Member States.
Four important points in the report are: the centres of reference; professional mobility, which already causes problems in some of the new Member States because of doctors or healthcare workers moving to other Member States for higher pay; patient safety; and dealing with inequalities. We all have to work in that direction, both within the high-level group and the Commission itself."@en1
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