Bulgaria's health system needs a strategy to fix its problems, and young doctors need a chance to specialise and get paid fairly, ombudswoman Velislava Delcheva said at the opening of a forum held by the Bulgarian Medical Association, titled "Priority: health - from the reality of the system to solutions for its future".

"We all count on continuity, on young specialists getting the chance to specialise and being paid fairly, and we expect a strategy to solve these problems," she said.

Delcheva based her remarks on complaints filed with her office. The rules change often, she said, but patients' rights and the rights of people working in the system still aren't fully guaranteed. Health care is an especially sensitive issue for people, she added.

Medical care is easier to get in Bulgaria than in other European countries. But the complaints tell a different story: hospitals and clinics aren't spread out evenly, medicines run short or go missing, and getting a prescription for expensive drugs means dealing with red tape.

Older people in remote areas and people with disabilities don't have full guaranteed access to basic care, Delcheva said. Patients in Bulgaria pay more out of pocket than in other European countries, and the hardest hit are older people, those on low incomes and people with disabilities.

Complaints about the quality of medical care keep growing. Some hospitals are in financial trouble, which affects the quality of care, the ombudswoman said, and unresolved problems include a shortage of doctors and too few medics in emergency care.

The forum could lay the groundwork for future policies on quality medical care and on protecting the rights of people who work in the system, Delcheva said.