Turkish Medical Association criticizes private hospital regulation changes

The Turkish Medical Association (TTB) has issued a strong critique regarding recent amendments to the Private Hospitals Regulation. The TTB argues that the changes fail to comply with previous judicial rulings and continue to impose administrative limitations on physicians, thereby restricting professional autonomy.

A central point of contention is the new inspection exemption granted to private hospitals with accreditation from the Turkish Health Services Quality and Accreditation Institute (TÜSKA). Under the new rules, hospitals with platinum and gold accreditation will be exempt from routine Ministry of Health inspections for three years, silver-tier hospitals for two years, and bronze-tier hospitals for one year.

The TTB claims that instead of addressing the legal inconsistencies identified by the Council of State, the Ministry has used formal wording changes to grant privileges to health capital. The association warns that replacing public oversight with accreditation-based exemptions weakens public supervision and provides unfair advantages to private healthcare providers.