Blackmail and exorbitant wage demands in healthcare. Government prepares response

• On June 25, the Presidium of the Tripartite Team for Healthcare will present its position on remuneration in health care, according to the Ministry of Health.
• According to the starosts, the situation has gotten out of control. - Hospital directors are being blackmailed with threats of entire teams leaving. Salaries of around PLN 80,000 and more are being paid - they point out.
• ZPP expert Berndadeta Skóbel hopes that the Prime Minister's recent words are an announcement of a change in the law on minimum wages in health care.

Another meeting of the Presidium of the Tripartite Healthcare Team is scheduled for Wednesday, June 25, during which the topic of remuneration in health care will be discussed. This is a continuation of the discussion of this body from June 10, with the participation of representatives of the Ministry of Health, the National Health Fund, trade unions and representative employer organizations. At that time, matters related to the issue of remuneration in health care were discussed.

All parties have decided to continue talks on remuneration, including contract remuneration, during the presidium meeting, which will be held on June 25 this year at the Ministry of Health. The government's position in the indicated scope will be presented at the presidium meeting.

- the Ministry of Health reported.

The Ministry was asked about the appeal of the Association of Polish Counties regarding the regulation of healthcare workers' salaries. It is the county boards that supervise the activities of county hospitals , most of which currently have deepening financial problems.

The General Assembly of the Union of Polish Counties has therefore called for immediate legislative work on changing the principles of shaping remuneration in the health care sector. The Union expects the adoption of regulations that will determine the upper limits of remuneration for health care employees , primarily doctors.

In the opinion of the district governors, the current situation related to the salaries of healthcare workers is irrational.

They pointed to two reasons: annual statutory pay increases in this sector (next July 1 this year) and the lack of so-called upper salary ranges.

The situation has long since gotten out of control. Due to the lack of a sufficient number of doctors, medical entities are forced to pay any rate to retain doctors. Hospital directors are often blackmailed with the threat of entire teams leaving if exorbitant salary demands are not met. We are aware that the profession of a doctor requires the completion of demanding studies and spending several years to acquire specialization. However, this does not justify tolerating a situation in which salaries of PLN 70-80 thousand and more are paid from public funds every month.

- the Union of Polish Counties emphasized in its position.

The announcement by the Ministry of Health to present the government's position on remuneration is the ministry's response to the agency's question about whether the Ministry of Health plans to introduce salary limits. However, the Association of Polish Counties is not among the members of the Tripartite Team for Health Protection.

Prime Minister Donald Tusk spoke on the issue of medical personnel salaries on June 11 during the debate on the vote of confidence. He noted that healthcare spending has been growing for several years, but asymmetrically. As he said, a lot of money was allocated for the statutory increase in healthcare workers' salaries, where there was asymmetry, and nurses were particularly disadvantaged. Currently, however, in the Prime Minister's opinion, healthcare salaries are decent.

The increase in healthcare spending next year will exceed PLN 25 billion

- Tusk informed.

We are preparing plans, also in the activities of the National Health Fund, so that this money will go to the maximum extent to activities that will be beneficial to patients, and will not be redirected in any significant percentage to increase wages

- he noted.

According to ZPP expert Berndadeta Skóbel, the Prime Minister's words can be interpreted as an announcement of a change to the law on minimum wages in health care.

I hope this will happen because maintaining this law is harmful and will be even more harmful in the future.

- she said on Friday.

Also on June 25, a meeting is being organised by the Board of the National Association of District Hospital Employers , which intends to talk on that day with representatives of trade unions and health care employee self-governments about a possible protest in connection with the situation in health care.

July 1 is the date of the next statutory increase in minimum wages in healthcare . They apply to doctors, nurses, midwives, pharmacists, laboratory diagnosticians, physiotherapists, paramedics and other healthcare workers.

The amount of the minimum wage in health care depends on the average salary in the national economy in the previous year and the work coefficient assigned to a given position.

According to calculations by the National Association of District Hospital Employers , hospitals will need PLN 8.5-9 billion, or about PLN 18 billion per year, to implement pay rises for full-time and contract employees in the second half of this year.