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Tag: physicians
Doctors will get for January higher basic salaries, but will miss out on the bonuses, which they had till now, daily Hospodárske noviny reports. This will mean, that they will remain roughly on the same level as before the coercive action, by which they necessitated a higher salaries. Hospitals claim that they can not afford the higher salaries together with bonuses, because they did not get necessary money from the Government and insurance companies. Trade unionists, however, claim that based on the contracts of doctors who noticed in the protest, hospitals cannot cancel their variable part of the salary. Therefore they called on the Government to convene the commission, which should investigate the situation.
Doctors are allegedly asking for the declaration of emergency state because of problems with vaccines. According to the President of paediatric section of Slovak Medical Chamber the Council of Chamber should discuss this option and afterwards ask for the declaration of emergency state. President of the Chamber Milan Dragula reportedly has to familiarize himself with the situation after last meetings and then he will decide on the convening of the Council. Doctors will probably, due to the change in the way of purchasing and billing of the vaccines, recourse to the Constitutional Court.
Association of General Practitioners for Children and Adolescents is protesting against the declaration of Ministry of Health that it has definitely agreed with doctors on the process of mandatory vaccination of children. This information was published on the website of the MoH. Association has reportedly not participated on any negotiations with MoH on the day in question. As false designated the Association also the publicized information that vaccination in its new regime is only a problem of small group of doctors.
As in the past, also in third quarter of last year healthcare professionals working in state hospitals earned the most. Among them doctors the best paid doctors were in joint-stock companies, where they earned € 1 642 per month. In public hospitals operating under the Ministry of Health doctors earned € 1 642 per month and the least earned doctors in non-profit organizations, where it was € 1 390.
According to legislation, wages of doctors will be adjusted twice in 2012, in January and in July. Doctors achieved higher salaries by the nationwide strike. The daily Sme (03/01/2012) reports that for example L. Pasteur University Hospital in Košice will expend € 144 000 more on basic salaries of doctors from the new year. Increasing of basic wages will affect also the overtime payments and hospital emergency services. These will, according to the spokeswoman of hospital, represent further increase of costs by about € 55 700.
Doctors are fighting against the legislation which would allow Government to end up strike of healthcare professionals in case of threat of life and health. Slovak Medical Chamber is currently appealing to president Ivan Gašparovič and is asking him, according to his competence, to decide on rejecting of mandate of Government to submit this amendment. Doctors consider this amendment as revenge against all healthcare professionals after last year's mass-notice-protest of physicians. They also claim that the draft legislation is excessively interfering into the fundamental right of healthcare professionals to exercise their profession.
According to Slovak Television primetime news programme, smaller hospitals will need € 5 million in the first half of year to cover the increase of doctors' salaries. Hospitals, however, are allegedly already indebted and still do not know where to get these money. Health insurance companies did not change their contracts yet. Ministry of Health remains calm: it expects savings from pharmaceutical reform in amount of € 100 million annualy.
According to the internet edition of daily Pravda from 15/12/2011 doctors stopped to vaccinate the patients. They complain the way of reimbursement for vaccines has changed and health insurance companies should reimburse the vaccines directly to doctors. The law, however, does not allow doctors to buy vaccines from any member of the drug chain – that is from producer, the registration holder, distributor, or from the pharmacy. Doctors are also not entitled to collect the surcharges from patients and not all of the vaccines are fully covered by the insurance company. Ministry of Health recommended doctors to purchase vaccines from health insurance company, which will order the vaccines and pay for them.
Doctors managed to achieve the higher salaries, cancellation of the transformation of hospitals into joint-stock companies, as well as the changes in Labour Code. Parliament yesterday approved the proposal of the Committee on Health, which should ensure the fulfilment of Memorandum signed between Medical Trade Union and the Government. Parliament firstly approved the proposal of Richard Raši (political party Smer) to cancel the transformation of hospitals and subsequently passed the amendment involving the increasing of salaries of doctors in 2012 and amendment to the Labour Code.
Minister of Health Ivan Uhliarik wants to call in 300 doctors from Ukraine to Slovakia – surgeons, traumatology doctors, anaesthetists and gynaecologists. These specialists were missing the most in hospitals, when doctors noticed en masse. Minister argues that this is the response to the long-term requirements of professional medical associations, which had been complaining about lack of specialists.
