"Parents today are calling lawyers more often than they trust us," says the head of the pediatric department at Bulovka.

Chief Physician, what led you to medicine and to children? 

Probably my family, because both my parents are pediatricians. My older brother too, so I probably followed them.

Do you remember the moment when you said that this is your mission? 

I'm not sure if I ever called it a mission, but I always thought it would be meaningful work, that I would have a life filled with something that makes sense. And I liked that. 

What has this job taken from you and what, on the other hand, has it given you, something you wouldn't have gained elsewhere? 

She definitely gave me what I was saying. That feeling of doing something meaningful and gives me such a life-long sense of self-realization.

Luxusní byt na pronájem Praha 2, Vinohrady, Praha 2

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And probably took a little more time from my family, which I could devote to it. Especially those night shifts, and on weekends, it's such a lifetime thing, that you have to surrender to it.

What did your children teach you about life and people?

Children have taught me that they are much more resilient than we think. Often much smarter than we think. They manage a lot and it's good not to approach them as too small.

How has the care for pediatric patients changed the most in recent years? 

A lot is changing. What has changed, for example, I don't know what exactly we mean, in recent years. If I took it from 1989, for example, the length of hospital stay has changed radically in the past 30 years. A number of diseases are treated more effectively, children can be hospitalized for a shorter time and many things are handled on an outpatient basis today.

Every year we are amazed to see that new drugs are emerging, which are capable of treating diseases that we thought there would be no specific drugs for. An example is cystic fibrosis, where fantastic new drugs have emerged in recent years. So the changes are ongoing and constant.

Was there ever a moment when you felt the job was too demanding and then something reminded you why you actually do that job?

I don't remember ever feeling that the job was too demanding. It has its demands constantly, but of course, I might have been tempted at times to accept a job where maybe a bigger reward would be available for less working hours. But as I said before, I probably wouldn't enjoy doing a job that didn't give me the feeling that it makes sense.

Do you think the Czechs have changed in how they approach health? Don't we expect doctors to do everything for us and preferably immediately?

That has definitely changed a lot. It has also changed legally. In our country, a new civil code was adopted about ten years ago, which changed the law so that doctors should not behave paternally towards adult patients, and what that patient wants, the will of that patient, is simply more important. So if the patient wants to harm his health, he has that freedom. And it’s not quite like that with children. Fortunately, in our view. Legally it is not yet so either.

But I think what has changed is that parents are turning to lawyers more often. They are complaining more often and we are dealing with unpleasant situations of this type more frequently.

There is talk of young doctors leaving for abroad. What do you think would keep them here more?

A sensible, fair system both in education and in remuneration compared to other professions in our economy and towards individual medical professions mutually.

What is your opinion on the approach of insurance companies? Do they support modern devices or rather hinder progress? 

I think that insurance companies support modern devices. It's just very difficult for them to decide what to support more and what to support less. Sometimes it's hard to find complete fairness there. 

According to you, does Czech healthcare have too much of a curative and too little of a preventive character? Can this be changed? 

There's never enough effective prevention. So certainly much could be changed and improved, but in general I think that especially in pediatrics, in our field, it has always been largely based on prevention. This is certainly good and I think we strive to maintain this in the Czech Republic. 

The Our Lungs Foundation Fund has announced a public collection for a cough assistant device. What exactly does a cough assistant do and why is it so important for your department? 

We have some children who either have acute or chronic lung problems, which lead to, simply put, polluted respiratory tracts and lungs, mainly an increased amount of mucus. And this can be caused by acute or chronic inflammation. And that cough assistant is able to help in cleaning those airways, shorten the treatment time and make it more successful.

Can it be said that this device can save lives?

I wouldn't necessarily assert that this is the case at our workplace, but in specialized centers such devices are certainly capable of saving lives, prolonging the lives of patients with very serious diagnoses.

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What would you say to people who are considering contributing to the collection for this device?

If you have some extra money, even a few crowns, consider whether it's not a good purpose - to help children breathe better.

Mr. Principal, I thank you very much for the pleasant conversation.

I also thank you.

Link to the collection

 Source: own questioning, editorial office