According to retired High Court Justice Elyakim Rubinstein, who was appointed as arbitrator between the Health Ministry, Hadassah Hospital and the parents of sick children, all suggestions put forward to date were rejected by the doctors who resigned.

As the mandated time period for arbitration is nearing its end, Health Minister Yaakov Litzman sent a letter to Rubinstein, explaining his position and why he opposes opening the unit in Shaare Zedek Medical Center.

In the letter, the experts in the ministry are quoted as are other experts in the field, citing why dividing the homological-oncology units between two hospitals would be similar to ‘Mishpat Shlomo’ (משפט שלמה), and the result would be mediocre level units and a lowered professional capacity instead of one strong good unit as Hadassah can be. The professionals emphasize that over time this will seriously harm the quality of care for Jerusalem’s children and their health.

The Minister of Health makes it clear in his letter that throughout the various stages of dealing with the doctors who resigned from Hadassah, and especially during the mediation led by Justice Rubinstein, the Ministry of Health has acted with the aim of providing an appropriate response to the children who are being treated without harming long-term professional considerations.

The statement adds “Accordingly, we proposed a number of guidelines in the mediation process that would meet the various needs raised by the parents and doctors during the mediation, but each of the proposals we proposed was rejected outright by the doctors”.

“The minister expressed the position of the professionals that the opening of a department or expansion of a clinic due to pressures created by doctors will lead to chaos and loss of administrative and regulatory control in the system. We are aware of the need to exhaust the solutions to the crisis by agreement, and therefore we have repeatedly proposed various guidelines designed to address the physicians’ occupational needs, but we cannot accept the situation in which we compromise on the quality of child care” the Health Ministry release continues, concluding, “The fragmentation of services for the population on the scale of Jerusalem is contrary to the entire professional doctrine in the treatment of rare diseases, such as childhood cancer.

“The Ministry of Health views the terrible incitement against the senior officials of the Ministry of Health and the Minister of Health and calls upon all parties to show public responsibility and to change the difficult and inflammatory discourse”.

(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)