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Tag: salary
Faculty hospitals want to defend against this year’s increasing of salaries of healthcare professionals on the court. Increasing should be ensured by new collective contract with trade unionists. This year, salaries should increase twice by 5%. The final form of collective contract between hospitals associated in the Association of Faculty Hospitals, Slovak Medical and Social Trade Union and Medical Trade Union was set by the judge last week.
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.
Increasing of salaries may threaten the operation of large public hospitals or institutions. If they do not get more money from health insurance companies, they will not have money for energies, pharmaceuticals or payments to the Social insurance company. Money from health insurance companies are their largest and often also the only one income. New collective agreement, moreover, orders faculty hospitals associated in the Association of Faculty Hospitals to increase the wages of all healthcare professionals by 5% in April and July.
New collective agreement signed by trade unionists requires hospitals to increase salaries of all healthcare professionals in public hospitals in two phases, from April and from July this year, by 5% of their basic salary. In the case of doctors, nurses and midwives this will be an increasing beyond the recently adopted laws. Association of Faculty Hospitals and Slovak Health Trade Union disagree with this decision.
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.
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.
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.
