Private healthcare organisations in Belarus have been permitted to issue sick leave certificates. This follows from the joint resolution of the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Labour and Social Protection of Belarus dated 30 October 2015 No. 107/67 "On certain issues of issuing and оформление of sick leave certificates and temporary incapacity certificates", the text of which is published on the national legal internet portal, reports BELTA.
Private healthcare organisations in Belarus have been permitted to issue sick leave certificates. This follows from the joint resolution of the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Labour and Social Protection of Belarus dated 30 October 2015 No. 107/67 "On certain issues of issuing and оформление of sick leave certificates and temporary incapacity certificates", the text of which is published on the national legal internet portal, reports BELTA.
The document introduces amendments and additions to the Instructions on the procedure for issuing and оформление of sick leave certificates and temporary incapacity certificates.
"Documents certifying temporary incapacity shall be issued and extended by a state healthcare organisation at the place of residence (stay), work (study, service) of citizens of the Republic of Belarus (hereinafter referred to as the healthcare organisation at the place of residence), by healthcare organisations regardless of the place of residence (stay), work (study, service) of the incapacitated person (hereinafter referred to as other healthcare organisations) to a person recognised as incapacitated based on the results of the temporary incapacity examination conducted in the manner established by the Instructions on the procedure for conducting the temporary incapacity examination, by the medical worker(s) or the Medical Advisory Commission (MAC) that conducted this examination," the new version of the Instructions states.
The previous version only referred to state, including departmental, healthcare organisations.
In case of two or more types of temporary incapacity for which a sick leave certificate and a certificate can be issued, a sick leave certificate shall be issued. The extension or closure of a sick leave certificate (certificate) shall be carried out at the healthcare organisation that issued it. The closure of a sick leave certificate (certificate) shall be carried out upon presentation of a passport or other identity document.
Healthcare organisations providing outpatient medical care, including home-based patient medical services, shall establish a decentralised system for issuing certificates of incapacity for work (medical certificates).
In turn, healthcare organisations providing inpatient medical care, as well as healthcare organisations providing outpatient medical care that do not provide home-based patient medical services, shall establish a centralised system for issuing certificates of incapacity for work (medical certificates).
The Resolution also excludes paragraph 8 from the previous version of the Instructions, which prohibited the issuance of certificates of incapacity for work by doctors providing consultative appointments, doctors in hospital admission departments, diagnostic centres, and sports medicine centres.
Additions have been made to the list of individuals to whom certificates of temporary incapacity for work are issued. This list now includes those caring for a sick child under the age of 5, receiving inpatient medical care from a non-state healthcare organisation, for the entire period of stay with the child in the non-state healthcare organisation.
A similar right has been granted to individuals caring for a sick child aged 5 to 14, or a child with a disability under the age of 18, receiving inpatient medical care from a non-state healthcare organisation and requiring additional care as per a doctor's conclusion, for the entire period of stay with the child in the non-state healthcare organisation during which the child requires care.
The scope of the Instructions extends to healthcare organisations and other organisations engaged in medical activities, as specified in point 7.5 of the list of administrative procedures carried out by state bodies and other organisations upon applications from citizens. These include, in particular, hospitals, infirmaries, medical and sanitary units, dispensaries, maternity hospitals, centres, polyclinics, outpatient clinics, clinics of educational medical institutions, prosthetic and orthopaedic rehabilitation centres, medical research and practical centres, medical rehabilitation centres, health centres, and paramedic and obstetric posts.
The Resolution comes into force on 1 February 2016.