SaS: Government Failing to Handle Situation with Doctors' Notices

Bratislava, November 29 (TASR) - The government is failing to handle the situation with doctors' resignation notices, representatives of the opposition Freedom and Solidarity (SaS) party, MPs Branislav Groehling and Tomas Szalay told a news conference on Friday, pointing to the growing concerns of Slovak citizens and criticising Premier Robert Fico (Smer-SD) for not dealing with the situation. "We are contacted by dozens of citizens who write or call us almost every day, expressing their concerns regarding their operations planned for January. These concerns are absolutely justified. More than 3,300 doctors have filed their notices and Robert Fico's government is absolutely failing to cope with the situation. Robert Fico doesn't care about people, he doesn't care what happens to patients, hospitals, whether and how much the prices of everything will go up," stated party leader Groehling. Groehling called on the premier to start dealing with the situation with the resignation notices. "Health Minister Kamil Sasko (Voice-SD) has no support from the premier. Fico throws all the responsibility on Voice-SD. He keeps his hands off it, although the health sector should clearly be a prime ministerial issue, as patients are suffering here," he noted. He, together with Szalay, criticised the government for retreating to the medical trade union in the issue of state hospitals' transformation into joint-stock companies. They said that they stand behind the transformation, calling it one of the solutions to the current situation. "They allegedly agreed that state-run hospitals won't be transformed into joint-stock companies. I view it a concession to the trade unions that goes beyond the framework of the memorandum signed two years ago," stated Szalay. More than 3,300 doctors in hospitals across Slovakia have already filed resignation notices in a show of displeasure with the situation prevailing in health care. The doctors are also considering submitting overtime work refusals. They are willing to withdraw them if the government starts meeting their demands. They first and foremost insist that the points of the memorandum from 2022 should be met. They also want the government to publicly declare that state-run hospitals won't be transformed into joint-stock companies. Minister Sasko earlier this week said that he'll submit to the next government session a resolution on the transformation that the trade unionists insist on. ko/mcs