President Milanović Supports Parents of Children Attending Private Speech Therapy: Timely Assistance Must Be Ensured for Children
The President of the Republic Zoran Milanović held talks today with parents of children attending private speech therapy who are concerned about the possible closure of a significant number of private speech therapy practices, which could directly jeopardise the ongoing rehabilitation of around 7,000 children.
Following the discussion with the parents, President Milanović expressed his support for preserving the accessibility and continuity of speech therapy for children, and considers the parents’ concerns to be justified. The President’s position is that children must be guaranteed timely assistance, and parents must be given the assurance that private speech therapy for children will not be discontinued until a replacement solution is found.
The problem has arisen due to new regulations introduced by the Ministry of Health, which laid down new minimum technical requirements for the operation of private speech therapists. Data from the Croatian Association of Speech Therapists Entrepreneurs [Hrvatska asocijacija logopeda poduzetnika], a professional association representing speech therapists providing services in the private sector, show that more than 85 percent of private speech therapy fails to meet at least one of the technical requirements, while more than 40 percent will be forced to cease operations if the new regulations remain in force.
The parents also expressed their concern over the fact that the Ministry of Health did not provide an answer as to where the children will continue their treatment if the private practices are closed. At the meeting, they pointed out that they did not dispute the need to regulate profession – i.e. to bring order to the system, as the Ministry of Health explains the new regulations – but they demand that the conditions be professionally justified and aligned with the actual needs. They stated that all previous discussions with the representatives of the line ministry had yielded no results.
It was noted at the meeting that an additional obstacle for users was the restriction placed on multidisciplinary work. Specifically, the new regulations prevent speech therapists from working together with other specialists, thereby threatening the integrity of diagnostics and therapy.
Our only interest is that our children can continue to receive speech therapy, and for most of them private speech therapy practices are the only choice because they cannot obtain the necessary professional assistance in good time within the public healthcare system, the parents warned at the meeting with the President. Consequently, the parents asked President Milanović for support in preventing the accessibility of therapists and for encouraging the Government and the Ministry of Health to engage in an urgent, open dialogue with parents and the representatives of the speech therapy profession to find a sustainable solution.
Those attending the meeting at the Office of the President of the Republic included parents receiving speech therapy ijević, Anamarija Kirac, Ana Goleš, Dina Jelčić, Marta Šimrak Lukavski, and Paulina Palić, alongside Matilda Poljak Šušak from the Croatian Association of Speech Therapists Entrepreneurs. Accompanying President Milanović was the adviser to the President for Education Jadranka Žarković.
PHOTO: Office of the President of the Republic of Croatia / Filip Glas