Equal Pay for Equal Work
Hungary’s LMP (Lehet Más a Politika) is calling for “forward-looking and positive reforms” in the healthcare sector. According to Krisztina Hohn, a member of the LMP faction, about five thousand health care workers declared their intention to resign after being obliged to sign new health service contracts. She stated that the global pandemic reinforced the deficiencies inherent in the Hungarian health care system.
“Although we experienced the shortcomings of the health care system during the epidemic, it is not understandable why health workers had to sign their contracts under the new law on health care service contracts during the epidemic.”
– Krisztina Hohn
On July 12 2021, Hungary’s Green Party highlighted the importance of the health care issue at an online press conference. Alongside health care workers, Hohn called the government of private providers that issues patients with public funding and asked them to “pay attention to these providers and allow them to receive the extra amount from which the increased wages can be exploited”
Previous healthcare bill
In 2020, a new health care bill introducing a threefold increase in doctor salaries was passed in Hungary. According to Balkan Insight, the bill grants a threefold increase in the average doctor’s salaries from the year 2021 to 2023.
Despite Prime Minister, Viktor Orbán, statement that this is the biggest transformation in Hungary, in terms of the health care system in the last thirty years. The predicted increases in the salaries are still lower than neighbouring countries like, Austria and Slovakia.
Closing rural hospitals
In light of rumours about the government cutting more than two-thousand beds which would cause closing of rural hospitals, Hohn published an informative video on her Facebook page. She mentioned that Prime Minister, Viktor Orbán, denied the hospital and bed closures, adding “We hope that not only the denial will remain but the facts will also remain the same, so there will indeed be no hospital closures and no bed closures, as the pandemic period has clearly shown the inadequacy of the health sector in the past.”
Here is Krisztina Hohn’s full statement and the translation:
“In recent days, the press has been a buzz with news that the government in Hungary is set to cut more than two-thousand hospital beds in the coming period. This could mean that some rural hospitals will have to close their doors or wards may be closed.
In spite of the shortcomings in the health care system during the pandemic, it is not understood why health workers had to sign contracts under the new law on health care service. The negative result of this was about five thousand workers resigning during the pandemic.
It is important that the ban on dismissals, during the pandemic, now be lifted. If not, it could result in hundreds or even thousands of workers resigning from the health because it would not be good in any way, given the state of the health care system.
There are two types of private service providers; one is those who provide services for money, these are private hospitals, private clinics, private doctors. There is also a private provider sector that provides services explicitly free of charge. It does so by entering into service contracts with municipalities or the state itself, this is because it cannot be provided by the municipalities or simply because of a shortage of doctors.
The hospital outsources these tasks to private providers. These providers are financed free of charge for the public on the basis of a contract.Unfortunately, however doctor salaries have not been increased since 2006 to 2017. Whereas in the years before that, the amount has been rising dynamically every year. As a result, providers are unable to afford the rightfully increased medical salaries and are now in a precarious position. Therefore, it is strongly advised the government pay attention to these providers and to allow the use this extra funding to pay for medical salaries. Thank you very much for your attention.“
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