BRATISLAVA, May 6, (WEBNOVINY) — Slovak doctors appear to have eventually decided to take the Czech way. Representatives of the Doctors’ Union Association on Thursday unanimously supported the proposal to file collective resignations, the SME daily reported. Head of the Association Michal Polician told SITA news agency that it is their final decision. He could not say when the doctors would start handing in their resignations. “It needs time for preparation,” he said. The number of doctors who will join in the initiative is not yet known, either. The association has nearly 2,000 members. According to data of the Slovak Medical Chamber, there are approximately 18,000 doctors in Slovakia. “We expect both members and non-members to join,” Polician stated.
The association is not avoiding dialogue. They want to debate their demands with members of the Parliamentary Health Care Committee, as well as with the prime minister. They will not give notices if the demands of doctors’ unions are fulfilled. They request that by no later than January 1, 2013, doctors’ wages reach a minimum of 1.5 to 3-times the average wage in the national economy, depending on achieved education and length of experience, stopping transformation of hospitals into joint-stock companies, observation of the Labor Code and the decree regarding minimum material and personnel requirements. President of the Slovak Medical Chamber (SLK) Milan Dragula stated that if they are called to join in the protest, they will not be against it.
The Health Ministry reacted by saying that it is already leading an intensive dialogue will all those involved in the health care sector. The ministry’s spokeswoman Katarina Zollerova said that unions did not mention giving in notices at this week’s round-table debates at the ministry, or at the meeting with the prime minister. Therefore, the ministry finds the information surprising. It hopes that no mass notices will be handed in [as happened in the Czech Republic — SITA note] .
The Health Ministry further considers unethical and inappropriate to hold patients hostage in negotiations. “Doctors are at least four years late with the strike, as nothing major was done in the health care sector by the previous government,” she said, adding that the incumbent government took over the sector with a 200 million euro debt.
The spokeswoman went on to say that the ministry has submitted several reform bills to parliament, some of
The ministry agrees with most of the unionists’ requirements. Settling the debt of health care facilities, however, goes hand in hand with their transformation into joint-stock companies. According to her, hospital that have already been transformed achieve balanced results, unlike those that are subsidized from the state budget.
SITA