They continue to look for the person responsible for Danaya’s death, but it is not the boss of “Pirogov” (Review)

They are developing standards for the work of hospitals – the NHIF may not pay them paths and enter into contracts with them if they do not introduce such

The prosecutor’s office continues to investigate the death of 15-year-old Danaya in “Pirogov” from last year, but the proceedings against the director of the hospital, Valentin Dimitrov, were terminated due to “lack of evidence of a crime”.

This became clear on Wednesday, after it was initially understood from an interview of the Acting Minister of Health, Dr. Galya Kondeva, that the proceedings on the entire case had been terminated.

“Two days ago, information came from the prosecutor’s office that the initiation of pre-trial proceedings in the case of “Danaya” was refused due to the lack of data on a crime. There are certainly problems in the medical facility, but in my opinion, it is not only the director’s fault,” Kondeva said in the morning block of BNT.

A little later, the Ministry of Health specified that the refusal of proceedings does not concern the “Danaya” case, but the inspection based on a report against the director of the hospital. The Sofia City Prosecutor’s Office also confirmed that the proceedings have not ended.

The 15-year-old girl died in “Pirogov” almost a year ago – on May 9, 2023. Since then, her mother Ani Stoyanova has been fighting to clarify the case and organized a series of protests. She claims that the poor organization in “Pirogov” may have led to the death of her daughter.

Danaya suffered from thrombocytopenia, a condition in which blood clots more difficult. She was admitted to the intensive care unit of “Pirogov” with hemorrhage and swelling of the brain, caused by her illness and after a slight blow to the head. There she underwent surgery, but fell into brain death. The mother claims that the girl was not given enough care, and that she did not receive life-saving medicine in time, which the hospital had but did not discharge because the procedure was “too complicated”.

Stoyanova demanded that the head of “Pirogov” resign. She did not agree with the result of the first inspection of the Ministry of Health on the case, announcing that there were untruths in the report. He requested a second inspection, after which the Executive Agency “Medical Supervision” announced that it had discovered violations in the treatment of the deceased 15-year-old girl.

In December 2023, former health minister Hristo Hinkov decided to fire the head of “Pirogov”. However, GERB and DPS spoke against this in the parliament and demanded that Hinkov leave his post. And doctors from the hospital threatened mass resignations. Thus, Dimitrov’s replacement was stopped, but the order remained. A few days ago, it became clear that the Acting Minister of Health, Galya Kondeva, canceled it. She motivated her decision with the fact that the ministry will soon start competitions for new directors of several hospitals in the country, including “Pirogov”. Dimitrov’s mandate at the head of the emergency hospital expired on April 23. The competition for his successor is expected to begin by the end of the month.

“We are left with the impression that the decision (of Kondeva – b.r.) to cancel the order was not hers, or that perhaps she made a mistake,” Danaya’s mother commented on Wednesday. She met with the Minister of Health at noon. During their conversation, Kondeva announced that the Ministry of Health is starting work on the long-awaited standards and protocols for working in hospitals. A way was also sought to establish a mechanism through the National Health Insurance Fund, which would be restrictive towards hospitals that do not have good medical practices in place. This would mean that the fund refuses to enter into contracts with them or does not pay their clinical paths in full.