Ljubljana - The Health Ministry is proposing almost EUR 2 billion worth of investments in healthcare over the next ten years, according to a draft bill released on Wednesday.

Speaking for Radio Ognjišče, Minister Janez Poklukar said the bill was an upgrade of a vision of healthcare over the next decade.

"Major projects in healthcare cannot be planned annually," he told the Catholic radio, adding that projects should be prepared soon enough to secure funding.

The goal of the bill is to secure funds to put in place the most operative capabilities of healthcare, reads the draft, with Poklukar also noting modernisation of the information system.

The ministry said the ultimate goal was to ensure the Slovenian health system's resilience and readiness for future challenges and additional pressures on the health system in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic and in view of the population's ageing and its being prepared for potential new outbreaks of communicable diseases.

Investments are planned in the Ljubljana and Maribor medical centres, general and specialised hospitals, psychiatric hospitals and maternity wards, medical and health schools and research institutions.

The bill plans for the construction of a new gastroenterological department at UKC Ljubljana, a new building for the Clinical Institute of Medical Genetics, and new annexes to the old maternity ward and orthopaedic department, plus a regional hospital in Gorenjska, and new nursing hospital and nursing home capacities.

The investments totalling EUR 1,943 million would be secured in regular annual budgets from 2021 to 2031 in the financial plans of the Health Ministry. The law would not affect other public finance except in the part pertaining to additional funding of educational institutions by the Education Ministry.

The minister said trained staff would be the key hence a focus on education where increasing the number of enrolments would not suffice but it would also be necessary to create suitable working conditions and inter-personal relationships.

Comments in response to the draft bill are expected until 7 June.