LOZ: Resignations of Doctors Piling Up, Currently over 3,200

Bratislava, November 4 (TASR) - The number of recent resignations by doctors is rising, and it now exceeds 3,200, head of the Medical Trade Union Association (LOZ) Peter Visolajsky reported on Monday. Visolajsky noted that the union is ready and willing to negotiate, but neither the government nor the Health Ministry has contacted it recently regarding a meeting. "Neither the minister nor the government has approached us yet, despite the fact that we've been saying from the beginning that we want to resolve problems at the negotiating table and not by resignations. Neither the ministry nor the government will resolve this crisis by underestimating or attacking doctors," Visolajsky remarked. According to him, doctors are asking only for the government to finally address the collapsing health-care system, "which in Slovakia doesn't serve patients, but financial groups". The Health Ministry claimed that negotiations with representatives of the Medical Trade Union Association will continue, adding that it will report on the talks in due time. More than 2,700 doctors from hospitals across Slovakia started to resign last week as a sign of dissatisfaction with the situation in the health-care sector. The doctors are willing to negotiate and withdraw their resignations if the government starts to meet their demands. In particular, they insist that a memorandum signed with LOZ by the then government in 2022 should be observed. It includes the condition of a 9.7-percent pay rise next year. The government is currently offering doctors a 6.44-percent increase. At the same time, the doctors are demanding that the government should publicly declare that there will be no transformation of state hospitals into joint stock companies. Health Minister Kamil Sasko (Voice-SD) has confirmed that he is ready to negotiate further. He hopes that the issue of salary increases for doctors won't be an obstacle to finding an agreement. zel/df