About one in six health care workers wants to leave the health care system, according to a survey by the Health and Social Care Trade Union. At a press conference last week, union representatives said the current government has failed to fulfill agreements, such as on the unification of salaries and wages.
Union head Dagmar Zitnikova told CTK the union was not planning any protest actions before the autumn elections, but wanted to negotiate with parties about their programmes and wait for the next government.
According to the Ministry of Health, the criticism is not justified, as the agreement was fulfilled in all three points.
The promise to create a law on the remuneration of health care workers that would link pay levels to developments in the economy was part of the December 2023 agreement that averted a protest by hospital doctors. At the time, more than 6,000 doctors signalled their refusal to work overtime, claiming that hospital managers were requiring too much. Representatives of the Health Ministry, hospitals, the Czech Medical Chamber and unions entered negotiations about the deal for several months, but ultimately could not find agreement on its parameters.
According to the Ministry of Health, three draft versions of the law were submitted, but were rejected by the unions. The salary requirements were also met.
“In December 2023, the transfer of doctors, dentists and pharmacists to higher pay grades was approved, and from January 2024, salaries for all employees in all hospitals, including those employed part-time, were increased,” Martin Novotny of the ministry’s press department told CTK.
The unions demanded, for instance, that workers in regional, municipal and private hospitals be paid according to the salary scales for state employees. According to Zitnikova, the difference between the contractual wage and the state-guaranteed salary is about CZK 4,000 for doctors and up to CZK 10,000 for nurses.
“We have been waiting for a systemic solution for many years. We are waiting to see how the next government will approach the problems in the healthcare system,” said Zitnikova. She added that the current government would not be able to push through any changes to the law, but it was discussing a reimbursement decree to distribute health insurance money for next year. “We were told at today’s meeting that they were not counting on any major increase in funding for next year,” she added. About CZK 530 billion should be distributed.
