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Tag: physicians
The Government on its special meeting on Monday approved the declaration of emergency. It should involve the obligation to work to ensure the performance of health care and prohibition of the right to strike for certain employees. Emergency will, however, not cover whole territory of Slovakia, but only 15 health care providers – university hospitals in Bratislava and Košice, faculty hospitals in Trnava, Trenčín, Žilina, Prešov and Banská Bystrica, concerned will also be childrens̍ hospitals in Bratislava and Košice and hospital and clinic in Prievidza, Trstená, Dolný Kubín, Čadca and Liptovský Mikuláš. Emergency will be declared from Tuesday, November the 29th.
According to internet edition of Hungarian weekly Heti Világgazdaság (hvg.hu) Slovak doctors earn significantly more than their Hungarian colleagues. Weekly refers to the current survey on salaries from the Hungarian server fizetesek.hu, according to which Hungarian doctors earn on average € 693, what is a third less than Slovak. The survey analyzed the data from more than 4 000 healthcare employees from both countries. Hungarian media warn, that, like in Slovakia, Hungary is also threatened by the mass departure of doctors because of the dissatisfaction with the salaries. Hungarian Medical Association has launched an action, in which the notices of several thousands of healthcare employees may enter into force in January.
Minister of Health Ivan Uhliarik presented a detailed plan how the emergency state will operate with regard to ensure the absent doctors in 15 hospitals, where the emergency is declared. Doctors will get the call-up decree from the District Office with the order to enter the service. Selection of doctors will be made by the directors of hospitals. Managements of hospitals, where the emergency state is not declared, will send list with names of doctors, who have to start the work, to the District Offfice. These doctors should ensure the operating of the hospitals during the crisis. Number of doctors receiving the call-up decree depends on how many doctors will accept the increasing of the salary by € 300 and withdraw the notice.
Increasing of the salaries by € 300 did not convince most of the doctors in hospitals. According to them it is just a formal modification, but in reality, the salaries would increase by only about half that amount. Doctors are concerned, that after the increasing of salaries hospitals will reduce all of the contributions, which are not guaranteed, such as bonuses for services or personal assessment. Their doubts were not dispelled even by the assurance of Minister of Health Ivan Uhliarik that their management can not cut these contributions. Medical trade unions claim, that once the collective agreement expires, managements of hospitals will not agree with the increased contributions beyond the Labour Code.
According to internet edition of daily Pravda from 30/11/2011 in University hospital in Košice only 10 notices remained in force. According to spokeswomen of hospital several doctors have decided to terminate the employment and some are still in the length of notice, as they resigned later on. Hospital does not have to direct any doctor the work readiness in the frame of emergency state. After withdrawal of 228 notices of doctors the situation got finally stabilized. According to current development the prohibition of receiving of patients for planned hospitalization and performances was cancelled and operation of all clinics and departments is already ensured in a normal mode. Director of hospital thanked to all doctors for their attitude and for decision to stay in the hospital.
Even after almost nine hours of negotiation between representatives of Medical trade unions and Government they were not able to find the consensus. From today, hospitals will therefore miss 1 200 from total of 6 500 doctors. For some healthcare facilities this could mean a big deal or even a collapse. The most problematic are the hospitals in Bratislava and in Žilina region. Even though Government after its original proposal to increase the salaries by an average of € 300 increased its offer, Medical trade unions did not accept it. They insist on the original requirement and ask the additional increasing of salaries in 2013 to at least 1.5 – 3 times the average wage in national economic, which last year amounted to € 769.
Dozens of doctors from hospitals in eastern Slovakia participated in the meeting organized by the Medical trade unions, where they disagreed with the proposals of Minister of Health Ivan Uhliarik to the solution of current situation. According to President of Medical trade unions in Prešov doctors are resoluted not to withdraw their notices and sustain until they meet their requirements. Commenting on increasing of salaries he said, that doctors only want to top up their wages to the level of professions with comparable education, complexity and responsibility. They also refuse the moving of the protest to the political level.
Slovak Medical Specialists Union asked all private outpatient clinics for one-day strike, which should take place on December the 1st. According to the Union President Andrej Janco many of private outpatient clinics were abolished because of the lack of funds and hundreds are currently about to be closed. Doctors in Union also dislike, that government only deals with the requirements of public doctors and nurses instead of compensating of shortfall in funding equitably for all. Union President also noted that private outpatient clinics were the first that expressed their requirements for salaries increasing. He argues that they have thereat received the promise of a fair sharing of financing from the Prime Minister.
With the aim of agreement with doctors Ministry of Health prepared a memorandum, which should guarantee the fulfilment of their requirements. Memorandum has seven points considering the salaries adjustment, transformation of hospitals, the Labour Code, supplementary financing of healthcare system, anti-corruption measures, codes of ethics and withdrawal of doctos' notices. Medical trade unions should, in the case of signing of memorandum, afterwards ask the doctors to withdraw their notices. Minister will then ask the chiefs of hospitals to accept the withdrawal of notices, unless the positions are not already taken or the restructuring changes in hospitals did not already take place.
Minister of Health Ivan Uhliarik talked to the doctors from Childrens' Faculty Hospital in Bratislava, they did not arrived to a particular agreement though. Doctors said that minister did not convince most of them to withdraw their notices. Hospital still registers 112 notices, originally there were 121 of them. Minister said that he has also discussed with doctors the additional financing and the approximate amount that the hospital would need for not making the debts. According to doctors, Minister offered € 10 million, but Minister said, they did not talk about the specific sum.
