BRATISLAVA, November 18, (WEBNOVINY) — Representatives of the Medical Trade Unions Association (LOZ) delivered their own draft memorandum on fulfilling their requirements to the Health Ministry on Friday. LOZ head Marian Kollar told the press on Friday that in the memorandum they propose outlines a different philosophy in remuneration of doctors, which he did not want to comment further. „We also write about the transformation of hospitals into joint-stock companies, there is also the Labor Code explained in detail and abiding by it, and we also have a part on additional funding for hospitals by health insurance companies,” he said. The unionists want to give the proposed memorandum to Prime Minister Iveta Radicova and Chairman of the Parliamentary Heath Care Committee Viliam Novotny.
Health Minister Ivan Uhliarik proposed to the head of the Medical Trade Unions Association to sign a memorandum on resolving their requirements on Thursday. Kollar commented that this non-standard offer was presented in the morning of a public holiday, after the unionists’ meeting on the previous night. Kollar suggested that the fact that Health Minister Ivan Uhliarik knew about their meeting and its contents“ smells of an intelligence play”.
According to Friday’s statement of the Health Ministry, the unionists have until next Friday to study his proposal. After that, Minister Uhliarik is prepared to meet with them and sign a memorandum drafted by the Health Ministry, which in addition to wages, deals also with anti-corruption measures and the doctors’ ethical code. The ministry proposed an increase in basic salaries of doctors by EUR 300 next year.
In reaction to the contents of the ministry’s draft memorandum, Kollar said that it forms solid foundations for a consensus and further discussions. The unions also welcome the proposed anti-corruption measures that should indirectly help increase the sources available in the health care system.
According to the Medical Trade Unions Association (LOZ) 2,411 hospital doctors have filed resignation notices in 34 hospitals all over Slovakia. Some 7,500 doctors work in the country’s hospitals. The Medical Trade Unions Association has four demands on the government: to observe the Labor Code, change the system of health care funding, stop transformation of hospitals to joint-stock companies, and increase wages of health care employees. The doctors perceive all their requirements as a complex and demand fulfillment of them all. President Ivan Gasparovic and Prime Minister Iveta Radicova confirmed on November 7 that the transformation process would be put on ice.
SITA