NIK report reveals massive waste in use of funds for restructuring hospitals
Most of the zl.500 million spent in 1999 and 2000 on the restructuring of
hospitals has been wasted, claims the Supreme Board of Inspection (NIK) in a
report published yesterday. Some of the money was spent on purposes other
than intended, often as a result of the hospitals receiving the funds just a
few days before the end of the year and having to spend them quickly. The
report cites the example of one hospital, where 16 people were laid off as
part of a restructuring, and paid zl.62,800 in severance pay. It later
transpired that the planned privatization of the hospital kitchen could not
go ahead, and the people had to be re-hired. According to NIK, 38% of
inspected health care facilities purchased equipment in breach of the law on
public tenders. (Gazeta Wyborcza, p. 6) T.J.
