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Tag: physicians
Doctors fighting for higher payments from health insurance companies want to deal with the situation with new Minister of Health Zuzana Zvolenská. According to the President of Slovak Medical Chamber, Milan Dragula, it is necessary to calm down the situation in system and to find different solutions. In March Chamber started to collect the authorizations from doctors, by which it might ask self-government units for an interim suspension of licences for providing of health care. This way Chamber wants to get bigger importance in the negotiations with insurance companies.
Medical Trade Union will provide nurses in hospitals with full legal service. In order to avoid the legal increasing of salaries of nurses from April the 1st some hospitals forced nurses to sign amendments to their contracts, according to which they will remain only part-time nurses. Trade unionists advise nurses to contact the representative of trade unionists in their healthcare institution. Legal service includes the filling of complaint to the relevant state institutions such as Labour Inspectorate, Ministry of Health, or their representation in negotiations with mentioned institutions.
Medical trade unions called on Ministry of Health to keep the promise given to nurses in terms of new way of their renumeration. According to Ivan Uhliarik, however, doctors do not have moral right to comment on the wages of nurses, as they used patients as hostages during negotiating of their salaries and turned to Constitutional Court because of the salaries of nurses.
Health Committee of the Slovak Medical Chamber is not satisfied with the negotiated conditions with health insurance company Dôvera. Results from the statement of the Committee are: increasing of prices is minimal and in any case does not ensure the increasing of sources by the most of healthcare providers in non-state outpatient sphere, necessary for implementation of the act on minimum wage claims of nurses, by the full-time employing of nurses.
Private doctors will ask new Government to guarantee their minimum wage of 1.9 times the average wage in national economy. Head of the Association of Private Doctors claims that it is discriminating if the law guarantees the income only to doctors in in-patient health care facilities. According to him the minimum income claim of outpatient care doctors should also be given, as they also provide health care in the frame of public health insurance.
Outpatient doctors reiterate that increasing of salaries of nurses will cause problems in their sector. According to the President of the Association of Private Doctors after April 1st, when the Act on minimum wage claims of nurses will enter into force, about quarter of outpatient clinics will get into the loss. They will allegedly have to end up their activity or find another solution. Ministry of Health, according to its spokeswoman, however, believes that cancellation of clinics due to the increasing of salaries of nurses will not happen.
In order to their salaries, nurses want to appeal on international courts and doctors want to close their clinics. Political party Smer does not enter into this dispute and refuses to declare, whether it is on the side of Slovak Medical Chamber, which wants to stop the increasing of nurses' salaries, or insists on respecting of the law, which Smer supported in the parliament. Smer wants to supply its statement after creating of new government, thus after April 4th. Act on increasing of wages of nurses should, however, enter into force on April 1st.
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.
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.
Doctors continue their protest against the increasing of wages of nurses and want to suspend the force of the Act on their wages. Slovak Medical Chamber is asking the General Prosecutor to bring the proceedings to the Constitutional Court of Slovak Republic. Court should, according to Chamber, decide that the Act on minimum wage claims of nurses and midwives is inconsistent with the Constitution and also suspend its efficiency.
