The audit of public procurements in the healthcare system in 2019 revealed inconsistencies in the amount of over 39.1 million lei due to non-compliance with legislation in this area at the stages of planning, awarding and execution of public procurement contracts.
This is stated in the Public Procurement Compliance Audit Report within the system of the Ministry of Health, Labor and Social Protection and some subordinate institutions, as well as other parties involved in during 2019. This document, prepared by the Accounts Chamber, was considered on Tuesday at a meeting of the parliamentary commission for monitoring government finance. The report notes non-compliance with transparency criteria at the stage of planning public procurement. The medical institutions planned and submitted overstated requirements to the Center for State Centralized Procurement in Healthcare, which led to additional costs. The audit revealed that the needs presented by public health institutions were in some cases inaccurate, formal and exaggerated, which subsequently led to non-fulfillment of contracts for some items by 12-54%. Failure to comply with regulations has led to the unbundling of public procurement through separate contracts in order to apply a different procurement procedure than prescribed. Purchase contracts were awarded with the acceptance of erroneous supporting documents by the working group, and economic agents were not included in the prohibited list. Evaluation, award and archiving processes were conducted with nonconformity assumptions. Government agencies did not calculate and did not apply penalties for delayed deliveries of goods. State medical institutions have accepted certain volumes of drugs, whose remaining duration would be less than specified in the contract. At the same time, the equipment purchased by 4 medical institutions (151.2 thousand lei) was not used for its intended purpose and was stored in warehouses (1.5 years). Improper planning of funding requirements for reimbursable drugs has not facilitated reaching more groups of citizens in need of reimbursed drugs. The Accounts Chamber recommended that the Ministry of Finance initiate a procedure for revising and adjusting the legislative framework in the field of public procurement, in order to eliminate inaccuracies, in particular, to regulate the procedure for low-cost purchases, in the case of publication and evaluation of offers, including the obligation of members of the working group to sign a declaration of confidentiality and impartiality. The Accounts Chamber auditors made a number of recommendations to the Ministry of Health, Labor and Social Protection and audited public health institutions. They must inform the Accounting Chamber of the measures they have taken within 6 months from the date of entry into force of the resolution. The audits were carried out at: Ministry of Health, Labor and Social Protection, National Health Insurance Company, Public Procurement Agency, Agency for Medicines and Medical Devices, Center for State Centralized Procurement in Healthcare, Oncological Institute, Institute of Mother and Child, Republican Clinical Hospital, Municipal Children's Dental center, Municipal Children's Clinical Hospital named after Valentin Ignatenco, Cimislia district hospital and health center in Hincesti. Chairman of the Commission for Control over Public Finance Igor Munteanu stressed the importance of making efforts to solve the identified problems at all stages - planning, execution, evaluation, etc. At the same time, he proposed to organize a meeting to consider the issue of procurement volumes during a pandemic, as well as on the costs associated with the payment of benefits to health workers infected with the new coronavirus, as well as to the relatives of doctors who died as a result of their medical activities in the fight against COVID-19.// 09.02.2021 — InfoMarket.
