Čtvrtek 28. března 2024, svátek má Soňa
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Lidovky.cz

Doctors Union releases updated figures for mass resignations

  14:10

It is impossible to know how many Czech doctors will actually take jobs abroad in the coming year

Tým LOK během tohoto týdne objížděl pražské fakultní nemocnice. foto: © ČESKÁ POZICEČeská pozice

A total of 3,513 doctors from 78 hospitals throughout the Czech Republic have sent signed resignation statements, according to the latest information from the Trade Union of Doctors (LOK), which is running a campaign called “Děkujeme, odcházíme” (Thank you, we’re leaving). The campaign is designed to protest doctors’ wage levels, which are much lower than those in Western Europe.

Campaign spokesman Martin Jaroš explained that the number of doctors is not final.

“The administrative process of gathering and organizing the notices is more challenging than we expected. Administrations in some hospitals began to collect notices just last week,” he said in a press release.

In Prague, the situation at local hospitals has changed significantly from just last week, as more doctors, mostly neurologists, filed notices. From the neurological clinic at General Faculty Hospital, up to 70 percent neurologists filed notices, at Motol Teaching Hospital it was up to 60 percent and at Královské Vinohrady Teaching Hospital it was 80 percent, according to information from the campaign. In Faculty Hospital Na Bulovce in Prague some 161 doctors in total are reported to have resigned.

Key departments affected

The hardest hit areas include Vysočina, South Moravia, Zlín, Moravia-Silesia, Pardubice, Hradec Kralové and Ustí nad Labem regions where hundreds of doctors have announced their resignations. In the Moravia-Silesia region alone, 508 doctors have signed their notices.

“In many places, the majority of physicians are leaving from key departments, such as in Kyjov [South Moravia] where over 90 percent of doctors in internal medicine and resuscitation resigned,” Pavel Vávra, who has become one of the key figures of the campaign, said in a press release.

Jaroslav Palas, the governor of the Moravia-Silesia region, has said that he will write an open letter to the government stating that only they and the Ministry of Health can avert the impending collapse of the health care system.

Last week, Health Minister Leos Heger (TOP 09) called on Czech doctors to allow for more time for necessary changes to be made, adding that he had presented a draft reform to the Czech Doctor’s Chamber (CLK) and they have approved it. Heger told the Lidové Noviny daily that the resignations were simply a token gesture, and he would be surprised if 700 to 800 doctors really left.

Among a list of 13 reasons to resign, the LOK is calling for an increase in the average monthly pay of Czech doctors to Kč 70,000 from the current Kč 50,000. Minister Heger has previously expressed doubt that there is enough money in the health care system to fulfill this demand.

One location where Czech doctors have said they would be interested in seeking employment in the case that they do resign is neighboring Germany. A clinic there offers a salary equal to about Kč 90,000 to Kč 110,000 a month, according to an October report by the Czech News Agency (ČTK).

 

 

 

 

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