Thousands of doctors resign in Slovakia

2,700 doctors began submitting their resignations in Slovakia on Tuesday due to the slow pace of annual salary adjustments affecting doctors, the Slovak public service news agency TASR reported, citing the Medical Union (LOZ).

“Today we started submitting doctors’ resignations, this affects 33-34 hospitals across Slovakia, and the number of resignations currently stands at 2,713,” said Petr Wisolawski, head of LOZ. The two-month notice period for doctors who submitted their resignations begins on Tuesday, and the union hopes that during this period the government will take steps that will stem the wave of resignations, MTI reported.

The basic demand of the Slovak Medical Union is to “settle the situation prevailing in the sector” and, above all, that the current government take into account the points of the agreement that LOZ concluded with the previous government in 2022. The central element of this is the regular annual correction of doctors’ salaries, on the basis of which doctors will receive An adjustment of 9.7 percent next year.

However, the budget strengthening package presented by the Bratislava government and adopted by the Legislative Council a few weeks ago provides for a 3 percent increase in doctors' salaries at a slower rate than the memorandum signed with the previous government. This increase was later adjusted by the Ministry of Health to 6.4% based on a settlement proposal.

Robert Fico's government justified its budget boost package – amounting to 2.7 billion euros (about 1,000 billion Hungarian forints) – by saying that the previous centrist liberal government, which left the country prematurely, had left behind untenable conditions in public administration.

The Slovak Medical Union also wants to reach a decision in which the government commits not to rely on converting government hospitals into joint-stock companies in the future. The latter would be a unifying measure that has been proposed several times, but has not yet been implemented.

In response to the pressure action exerted by the union, the head of the Slovak Ministry of Health, Kamil Sasko, held a meeting with directors of the affected hospitals on Wednesday and announced his readiness to continue negotiations with the union on a plan that would lead to improving the health care situation through concrete steps, but – as we mentioned – There is no possibility to further adjust the average wage correction rate.

The average salary of doctors in Slovakia is currently approximately 4,900 euros (about 2 million HUF), which is more than three times the average salary in Slovakia. This percentage is the highest in Slovakia among the countries of the region. The adjustment proposed by the Slovak Ministry of Health – 6.4 percent – would mean an average monthly increase of 300 euros (about 120 thousand Hungarian forints).

In Slovakia, similar protests by the doctors' union are not uncommon. The last time there was a mass dismissal in the medical profession was exactly two years ago, during the reign of Eduard Haeger. At that time, 2,100 doctors submitted their resignations, following which, before the end of the termination period, the government and the union agreed on the latter’s demands. Among other things, the Union now demands compliance with this memorandum.