Bulgaria's National Association of Private Hospitals has hit back at plans to strip Plovdiv's Medicus Alfa hospital of its licence, in a declaration issued this week.

The health ministry said a day earlier it would withdraw the hospital's licence because it had worked outside its terms. The findings come from the Executive Agency for Medical Supervision.

"We all know about the tragic case that led to the death of a child after surgery. We share the family's grief," the declaration says.

The hospital is challenging the findings in full before the courts, and the case is still pending. Criminal proceedings have been opened against the doctors involved.

The association says it learned of the licence withdrawal with surprise, and that the hospital had no reason — financial or medical — to work outside its licence. It says the medical supervision agency's findings are incompetent, and that the arguments the minister relies on are disputed, unproven and unlawful.

"Pulling a licence over disputed, unproven arguments under media or other pressure could affect how every hospital operates," the association says.

It warns that hospitals will start holding back in their work and steer clear of high-risk procedures — and patients will pay the price.

The association says the doctors will answer to the law if their guilt is proven, and that they themselves want the causes of what happened made clear, because it matters for their work.

The declaration says the health minister's responsibility does not stop at one hospital, or at hospital care in general — it extends to the rule of law. Before deciding on the licence, it says, he should wait to see whether the courts uphold or reject the medical supervision agency's findings.