Hospitals hide empty beds to avoid admitting stroke patients 

Bulgaria ranks first in the European Union in terms of stroke mortality, says Assoc. Prof. Rosen Kalpachki, head of the largest specialised centre for the treatment of the disease at the capital's St. Anna University Hospital. According to him, about 50 thousand people suffer from stroke every year.

It is necessary to create a register of stroke patients in order to control which hospitals provide modern treatment and to follow up people after the acute phase of the disease, Assoc. Prof. Rosen Kalpachki told BNR. 

He added that at least one to two out of ten people who suffer an acute stroke die in the first few days and confirmed that there is a problem of hiding empty beds to prevent such patients from being admitted. However, according to him, this happens mainly in Sofia.

"The fact is that especially in the off-hours - in the afternoon, after Friday noon, until Sunday, on holidays - stroke patients are admitted to a maximum of 3 hospitals in Sofia. This is not fair because it puts a strain on these teams, it puts a strain on the ability to provide adequate care and it rather distorts people's perception that they can actually be treated in a European capital in a European way in the 21st century".