Romanian health minister orders control body checks on outpatient clinics after hospital calls

Calls to public hospitals

Health Minister Alexandru Rogobete phoned several public hospitals across Romania on Thursday, 5 November 2026, asking for a neurology appointment for a hypothetical grandmother. He said the calls followed several petitions in which Romanians reported they could not book appointments at specialist outpatient clinics. The results varied, according to his Facebook post. In some hospitals the system worked, staff answered and appointments were available within a reasonable time.

In other hospitals he met situations he described as hard to accept. In Sibiu and in the capital, Bucharest, he was told there were no places or was redirected to another hospital. He described calls being passed between phone numbers, waiting lists and administrative explanations before a patient could reach a specialist. Colentina Hospital in Bucharest was also named in his announcement as a case that would be checked.

Control body to inspect clinics

Rogobete announced that from that day the Control Body of the Ministry of Health would carry out extended inspections. The checks cover appointment scheduling, staff timesheets and how specialist outpatient clinics function. Verifications were reported to begin on Thursday, and the Colentina case was to be examined immediately.

“It is not normal for a patient to be passed around between phone numbers, waiting lists and administrative explanations just to reach a specialist doctor!”

In a separate Facebook statement he said developing specialist outpatient clinics was a priority and that the reform should not remain only on paper.

“I will not accept this reform remaining only on paper!”

What comes next

Rogobete said he would keep checking personally and would intervene where services were not working. He stated that patients are entitled to accessible medical services and that hospital managers are obliged to organise them so they function. The minister did not give a timeline for the results of the inspections in the reports available.

“Where things do not work, I will intervene!”