HPI

President of Slovak Chamber of Nurses and Midwives, Mária Lévyová, claims that Slovak Medical Chamber has gone too far with its activities considering the law on minimum wage claims of nurses and midwives. This way she responded to the initiative of the Slovak Medical Chamber to appeal to the General Attorney. According to her, the procedure of Slovak Medical Chamber has no justification and it is more about an ethical dilemma.  

Smaller hospitals associated in the Association of Hospitals in Slovakia are afraid of the beginning of April, when they will have to increase the salaries of nurses and midwives. The head of the Association, which includes 54 hospitals, claims that the Association needs € 2.5 million for increasing of salaries of nurses. One hospital, according to him, needs only for increasing of wages on average almost € 48 000 monthly. From July hospitals will also again have to increase the salaries of doctors. Head of the Association claims that from May some hospitals will not be able to provide the health care.

Nurses working in outpatient clinics have probably celebrated their higher salaries prematurely. Although Parliament approved the law, under which their salaries should increase from April this year, doctors are planning to circumvent it. They are trying to negotiate with nurses the reduction of the working hours only to hours of attendance. Several doctors are creating one business company and together employing fewer nurses. The reality is also the dismissals of older nurses and employing those with shorter practice.

The crisis situation in health care may soon be repeated. Slovak Medical Chamber sent out several doctors the proposal of authorization which would lead to the intermediate suspension of their licenses to provide health care. Without the necessary permits the providers (mainly the outpatient doctors) would not be able to treat patients. President of the Chamber Milan Dragula justified this step by the need of money for increasing of salaries.

Association of Private Doctors (AoPD) agrees with the administrative action of Slovak Medical Chamber to the General Attorney regarding the higher salaries of nurses. As results from the statement of outpatient doctors, Association from the beginning presented the opinion that by approving the law there is a threat of extinction of at least third of outpatient sector. Chamber is trying to avoid the efficiency of the law on minimum wage claims of nurses and midwives, which should ensure them higher wages from April.

The result of the negotiation between representatives of nurses, providers of social services and the Minister of Labour is that qualified nurses in the nursing homes can not suffer for the changes in laws and incorrectly set legislation. The negotiation resulted also in the joint call on the providers of social services that they should not reclassify nurses to worse salaried jobs of nursing sisters. Minister of Labour has allegedly repeatedly sent a letter to the Minister of Health with the requirement of ensuring the acceleration of work on necessary legislation.

Children's Hospital in Košice plans to purchase medical equipment in an estimated value of € 3,499 million. Contract funded from the Operational Programme Health includes the delivery of special, highly sophisticated medical technique. Contract also includes equipment for clinics and departments including the services, which are necessary for implementation of equipment.

The premises of transplantation laboratories and clinic immunology in the University hospital Košice were reconstructed. This workplace has a great importance, because of special devices used here by experts. Supposedly this is the best equipped state laboratory in Slovakia. Every year it carries up about 220 000 examinations. Laboratory is also significantly involved in the transplantation programme of tissues and organs. Costs on the reconstruction of new premises reached € 58 000.

Medical trade unions by the University hospital in Bratislava are launching the petition against the charging for parking places in front of the hospitals in Petržalka and Ružinov. They will also collect the signatures against the renting a space in hospital Kramáre to private company Dr. Magnet that provides the magnetic resonance there.

Automatic self-aligning defibrillator, which controls the heart rate, was for the first time implanted in East Slovak Institute of Cardiovascular Diseases in Košice. This kind of device was first commercially used in October last year in France. Defibrillator automatically adjusts the parameters, which have been until now adjusted only by the less accurate echocardiography test.