After stormy statements, Veryga mercilessly evaluated the head of the NVSC

At the time, Gintautas Paluckas, the leader of the Social Democratic Party, believes that the accusations made by the ruling representatives to the NVSC about inaccurate COVID-19 statistics are just a cover for finding fault with the deteriorating management situation of the pandemic.

A. Veryga: The head of the NVSC has already had a disciplinary sanction, he cannot face the crisis situation

A. Veryga says that the head of the NVSC is not dealing with the crisis situation at the moment. According to him, R. Petraitis should strengthen his team or, after acknowledging that he does not face the problems of the NVSC, resign.

“As for this particular guide, apparently in peaceful conditions, when there is a quiet life and you don’t need particularly quick decisions, everything would be fine. But now it seems that the man does not get along. So, in this case, there are usually Two ways to react: find someone to help the manager (because the manager cannot do everything himself) or, if he feels tired, resign. Then the ministry could look for a new boss, “Elga told Eltai.

The former Minister of Health recalls that the head of the NVSC has already received a disciplinary sanction for not taking charge of the State Information System on Communicable Diseases and their Causes (ULSVIS) of the Center for Communicable Diseases and AIDS. Then, according to A. Veryga, SAM made the decision to dismiss Saul Čaplinskas, the head of ULAC, and it was decided to impose a disciplinary sanction on the head of NVSC.

“The information databases of the Center for Communicable Diseases and AIDS were not transferred to the institution and assumed by the other. Neither did any other manager work. For my part, I made the decision that I should be fired when I return after an illness. And another manager received a disciplinary sanction, so here I am talking about the head of the NVSC. However, it shows that he is not coping with part of the work, ”said A. Veryga.

R. Veryga generally raises the question of why the NVSC has started looking for untold deaths. According to him, this shows that NVSC does not know how to work with data and provide analytics.

“I find this situation very strange with unaccounted deaths. It is very strange that the NVSC cared and looked for those deaths completely and where they had lost them. It is not very possible to “lose” deaths in Lithuania. All deaths are recorded e. in health and both deaths and births are at some point completely electronic. So there is not much to lose in this place … I don’t really understand why I had to collect more data from the hospitals there. I don’t think the explanations from the head of the NVSC are very convincing. Why not go to the NVSC to deal with the data, apparently, it is also a matter of competence. After all, the folks at NVSC have never excelled at data analysis. We also had all kinds of problems with that, ”he said.

According to him, R. Petraitis was repeatedly offered help from the country, but he did not want to accept it.
“Despite all the efforts to help the manager … Sometimes he just wouldn’t come out and accept help. Because when you get some resources you have to pay for them and use them. They don’t become a help in themselves, they need to manage those processes. Also NVSC assistance was offered from other institutions. However, reactions to such assistance have been angered by saying that they do not interfere in our management and work, they do not forgive the managers. This shows that the NVSC is apparently afraid of letting someone out I don’t know why the institution is scared. We let people into the headquarters: military, experts, and nothing bad happened. Apparently, this is another example that in a crisis situation, when it is necessary to manage many processes, it is difficult for the head of the NVSC ”, said a member of the Seimas to Eltai.

G. Paluckas urges I. Šimonytė and A. Dulkis to refrain from “hunting witches”

At that time, G. Paluckas Eltai declared that Prime Minister Ingrida Šimonytė and Minister Arūnas Dulkis’s criticism of the head of the NVSC were unfounded. According to him, the NVSC has expressed concern about the lack of human resources, but neither the current nor the previous government has responded to them.

“I think there is a ‘witch hunt’ here and a disclaimer in an attempt to behead and temporarily reassure the public that we, the new government, have taken care of something. In politics this is done, but it does not systematically resolve Nothing. What’s more, people who trusted the Government will be even more demotivated. Finding a new guide will also take time. I am particularly angry because in circumstances where there were clear NVSC issues that were spelled out for both the outgoing government and the current, but nothing was done or nothing was done, simply, in case of error, make a quick decision and blame the manager. In politics, it is typical to do something, and it is simply to cut off the head and donate blood, then everyone is happy ”Said LSDP leader Eltai.

According to him, NVSC’s mistakes are understandable because employees are tired and unmotivated. Mr. Paluck recalls that the rulers were briefed on the NVSC’s challenges in late November, but did not take any concrete action.

“I want to say that the NVSC has made it very clear to this government in the Seimas Board meetings since November 26 that they lack capacity, they lack positions, people cannot bear the workload and are retiring. The pandemic is unmanageable because there is no traceability. Now, instead of saying that we, the Ministry of Health, have not been able to react accordingly, the errors made are highlighted (NVSC – ELTA). I understand that after reading the headlines, it appears that someone was deliberately hiding data about the dead. But there are no such things and people get death certificates, and all we are talking about now are discrepancies in the statistical tables or forms provided. I don’t want to defend any of the personalities because there are no irreplaceable personalities, I will take and replace and build another. But I want to say that the NVSC system has been working beyond its capabilities for a long time. Burning of the institution, you feel an absolute psychological demotivation. Consequently, working in such an environment can make mistakes and anyone can make them, ”said G. Paluckas.

The MP points out that when questions are raised about a manager’s competence, a working group must first be set up to assess it.

“First we have to dig deeper and understand the reasons for mistakes. I argue that mistakes are due to too much workload and too few people working in those jobs. All burnout and psychological strain leads to mistakes. But for some, it seems like a bad Will is someone who deliberately takes and hides the dead. Evidence is also needed for the accusations that have been made. A commission, a working group, needs to be convened to analyze and say: yes, it was a deliberate act of the manager who it did damage to the reputation of the institution. And now we only have headlines in which the public formed the opinion that someone was doing something wrong. I don’t understand what better or better in general the current rulers have done or are going to do. ” There is absolutely nothing useful in the context of managing a pandemic, “he said.
ELTA recalls that 804 unaccounted deaths were found during the digitization of the NVCS data. Approximately 324 deaths from COVID-19 and 480 deaths from other causes were found, but the deaths were due to the coronavirus. Health Minister Arūnas Dulkys said Wednesday that he was not convinced by R. Petraitis’ explanations of the unaccounted for deaths found. Prime Minister Ingrida Šimonytė also stressed that the head of the NVSC should be responsible for the situation.

In an interview with Elta, R. Petraitis states that the discrepancies in the death statistics were not due to the NVSC’s fault. The Director emphasizes that it was the NVSC that took immediate action to clarify the situation and determine if the medical institutions reported the deaths to the NVSC in the prescribed manner, as they should.