In the framework of PHARE aid to Hungary the support for the Health System Restructuring Programme was signed in April with the Number HU9302. The general objective of the programme is to enable the Ministry of Welfare in Hungary to restructure the health service in order to improve the status of the people in Hungary, with respect to primary health care.
The Ministry of Welfare is the responsible authority for the implementation of the programme and in the existing PHARE Programme Management Unit (PMU) a new health division was established.
The programme is divided two components:
-Primary health Care Policy -to create a more effective primary health care service
-Management and Harmonisation of Legislation of Practice -to harmonise the Hungarian legislation and practice with the European Union Countries
The purpose of the Primary Health Care project is to improve policy, management and communication capacities, support training and staff development and to create a stronger planning and research capacity. In order to achieve this purpose the component of the following sub-projects were established:
-Policy Advisory Group
-Policy Innovation Fund
-Planning and Research
-Training and Staff Development
This sub-project and thus consists of six tasks:
-Resource and Training Centres: to facilitate the build up of new skills and knowledge in primary health care staff and act as a local focus for policy implementation in primary health care reform.
-Training of Specialised Teachers: training abroad in anticipation of creating or strengthening chairs of Family Medicine at the five Hungarian Medical Universities.
-Network of Mentors: in order to help create the conditions for effective family medicine to arise, this network will train postgraduates.
-Home Nursing Groups: pilot studies will be conducted to establish groups of nurses, in home nursing, to increase the nurses-to-family doctors ratio, to improve the access to nursing care, as well as promoting team work between them.
-Library network: to allow the family doctors better access to information, a computerised library network will be set up, involving National Institute for Medical Information and Library, Institute for Family Medicine, the libraries of the universities and provincial resource centres. Through this network, medical publication activities will be effectively carried out.
-Medical Publications: purchase and translation, printing, release and selling medical publications, books to professionals working in the field of Primary Health Care. There is an absence of up-to-date professional literature in Hungary and this programme will provide family doctors and nurses with relevant sources of information. On the one hand there will be books purchased and on the other hand books translated, published and delivered to primary health professionals. The third component of the project is the re-investment of money collected through selling the textbooks in primary health care in the way defined by the Tenderer.