MOSCOW, October 1. /TASS/. The head of Russia’s leading cancer clinic, the Blokhin Cancer Research Center, Ivan Stilidi has condemned an ultimatum set by a group of oncologists to quit unless their demand on sacking the new director of a child oncology branch was met.
In his interview with the portal "The Future of Russia. National Projects", operated by TASS, Stilidi said: "This is blatant speculation, they actually threaten with their ultimatum that children will be left without medical care. We already have an agreement with children's oncology centers in Moscow and St. Petersburg - not a single child with a serious illness will be left without medical assistance."
On Monday, 26 oncologists posted a video message demanding the resignation of Svetlana Varfolomeeva, the new director of the Research Institute for Child Oncology and Hematology at the Blokhin Cancer Research Center.
According to Stilidi, the doctors’ anger was apparently triggered by the new director’s decision to tighten discipline at the center as well as putting a spotlight on the doctors who are the founders of a charity fund.
The director has vowed to carry out checks to figure out whether there is a conflict of interests between the institute’s oncologists working at a charity fund. "The tensions were fueled by the fact that she had drawn attention to the staff members, who founded a charity fund. I’m not a lawyer to give a legal evaluation to the actions of these staff members, but definitely there can be a conflict of interests here because doctors cannot collect funds for a treatment they prescribe. Checks need to be conducted whether these steps are legal," Stilidi stressed.
One of initiators of this video message was deputy director for scientific and medical work at the Research Institute for Child Oncology and Hematology Georgy Mentkevich, who is in charge of bone marrow transplant for children diagnosed with cancer. Mentkevich was sacked by the new leadership several days earlier and was also reprimanded for his "rude behavior," Stilidi noted.
In their video posted on Youtube, the doctors also demanded pay transparency and an audit of new buildings at the clinic following delays in putting them in operation. The oncologists said they decided to quit because the center’s new leadership had prevented them from fulfilling their duties. The doctors claimed that hospital wards were overcrowded and the construction of new buildings has been dragged on for 20 years.