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The Moroccan National Association of Private Clinics (ANCP) has sent a letter to private clinics in Casablanca, asking them to stop bribing ambulance drivers.
“It appears some clinics have been bribing ambulance drivers, asking them to bring patients to the clinics,” Doctor Hachem Tyal, the deputy director of the ANCP told Morocco World News.
“The issue is not widespread,” he added. “It is not common practice but any occurrence must be stopped.”
“It’s a matter of principal,” Tyal stressed.
When these bribes occur, the patient’s best interests are no longer the only thing at play, he explained. Bribed ambulance drivers can pressure patients into choosing a particular clinic.
“Patients should be completely free to choose where they would like to be treated. It’s not a matter for the ambulance drivers to decide,” Tyal said.
Read also: Moroccan Private Doctors Protest Against ‘Irresponsible’ Accusation of Tax Cheating
The ANCP heard about the bribes through patients and through ambulance drivers and responded quickly.
The ANCP has asked clinics, without specifically naming them, to immediately stop the bribes, noting they will use any methods needed to “clean up the profession.”
This situation has prompted a review of professional ethics, and the ANCP is currently developing a new ethical framework which will be revealed shortly, Tyal added.
The integrity of private clinics came under fire last week when Zouhair Chorfi, the secretary general of Morocco’s Ministry of Finance and Economy, accused Morocco’s private health sector of a “major under reporting” of their taxable income.
“When I go to a clinic and I’m told I can’t pay by cheque, what does this mean? It has to stop! Corruption has to stop,” Chorfi said in the last parliamentary sitting on taxation.
ANCP responded promptly, denying allegations and filing a formal complaint against against Chorfi for his “sensational and irresponsible” statement.
