Charades by hospital managements to protect certain suppliers

Competition excluded by claiming professional secrecy

17. november 2016 ob 11.55 • Ljubljana - MMC RTV SLO

Sanolabor is just one of the cases in which the hospital management is involved in a charade the purpose of which is to exclude the competition of the suppliers at public procurements. Foto: Reuters

In agreement with the supplier Sanolabor, at the Begunje Psychiatric Hospital the data on producers of the purchased medical equipment was proclaimed as professional secret. It is just one of the cases in which the hospital management is involved in a charade the purpose of which is to exclude the competition of the suppliers at public procurements. It is just one of the facts revealed by the EkstraVisor project of Televizija Slovenija.

"They are our business partners, which demands proper attitude," Damijan Perne, the director of the hospital, explains their cooperation with Sanolabor. Sanolabor, one of the major traders in medications and medical equipment in Slovenia, in the period from 2003 to 2015 sold to this hospital goods for the amount of almost half a million euros. They acquired the right to confidentiality of data claiming professional secrecy. The director Perne and hospital's legal expert Suzana Lotrič have accepted that, although the public funds are involved, and the disclosure of information is prescribed also by the Slovenian Access to Public Information Act.
They should know the law by now
"According to the act, these data are public, but they have labelled them professional secret," the information commissioner Mojca Prelesnik has established, and after receiving a complaint by Televizija Slovenija, she demanded their disclosure. Jet the Begunje Hospital is not the only one to avoid disclosure until thus decreed by the information commissioner. "They should know the law by now," Mojca Prelesnik says. As explained by those familiar with the market for medications and medical devices, on which the amount turning only through ten largest whole traders annually reaches approximately € 215 million, it is a widespread and quite simple trick, by which competitors can be excluded from a public procurement.
Abuse of 'professional secret' label against competition
A supplier who failed at the public procurement cannot file a complaint at the National Review Commission until the data on producer of products offered by the chosen supplier is obtained. But until the procedure through the information commissioner office is completed, the time limit for a complaint has usually passed. "It is an abuse of the designation 'professional secret', by which mistakes in the offer are hidden. Thus, the position of the 'court supplier' is improved, who otherwise might not be chosen," the legal expert Milena Basta Trtnik explains.
Unlawful, but unpunished
Sašo Matas, Director General of Public Procurement, agrees that it is illegal to label public data as professional secret. And what about surveillance, and penalties? "Employment of sanctions would prevent such things," Milena Basta Trtnik is convinced.