Bribery in Medical Service Delivery in Slovakia: Exploring the Gap

Sammanfattning: The topic of corruption can be discussed from a variety of standpoints including economic, political, and social implications. The focus of this thesis project is on healthcare sector and more specifically the low-level act of corruption, the bribery, which occurs between a doctor and a patient. The aim of this thesis is to research the reasons behind the persistent existence of the bribery in medical service delivery through looking more closely at patients’ perceptions on bribery in comparison to the official laws and rules created by both the Slovak government and the EU. For this purpose, qualitative approach is taken that develops this project by providing depth and detail about the bribery in Slovakia, in specific the attitudes and behaviors of the patients involved. Two direct observations and series of interviews were conducted. The theoretical framework to study this phenomenon is Eugen Ehrlich’s concept of ‘living law’ and Marcel Mauss’ concept of gift in combination with the critical discourse analysis while the emphasis is on analyzing the gap between juristic laws and laws the society de facto follows. The findings point to the most visible reasons for persistency of bribery in medical service delivery in Slovakia that is similar to other CEE states. Overall, the official laws are inconsistent with the society and the healthcare sector is poorly administrated which creates room for bribery and corruption. If the legislation will not acknowledge the grey zone between gift and bribe, and the system stays the same, Slovakia will remain on the list of countries where bribery is the most visible form of corruption within the EU.