Who is to blame for the lack of thousands of doctors in Hungarian hospitals?

Online daily Heti Világgazdaság reports that according to the chamber and the labour union, further wage rises are needed to have the required number of doctors at hospitals and doctor’s offices.

Based on a video report by the Hungarian newscast RTL Híradó, Heti Világgazdaság reports that there are hundreds of doctor’s offices in the countryside where there are not enough medics, and there is an abundance of pensioner professionals working at other places.

The chairman of the doctor’s chamber argues that it is not only the family’s doctor’s office that is lacking doctors, as

the overall number of still needed doctors in the country is almost five thousand.

Let’s take an example: the website of a hospital in Balassagyarmat announced that they are looking for doctors to employ in fifteen different areas, among these for dermatologists, physiotherapists, internists. Or, let’s look at the Dr Bugyi István hospital from Szentes, where professionals are needed in seven areas and resident doctors in nine.

There are altogether twelve hospitals in the country where the number of doctors is so low that further workforce is needed in all areas. This is despite the fact that there is a declining tendency in leaving to look for work abroad, said Dr István Éger, the chairman of the Hungarian doctor’s chamber.

Those who stay have a harder and harder job, argues the doctor’s labour union.

The chairman of the union Dr Tamás Dénes said that there is much more work in each hospital. Doctors are on duty for weeks in a row as to keep a division operable.

Both the chamber and the union conclude that wages must be raised further, in the hopes of employing enough doctors in offices and hospitals.

RTL contacted the Ministry of Human Capacities on the issues. The answer says that the lack of doctors is one of the many consequences of the left-wing liberal governments’ policies. According to the Ministry, the Fidesz government spent 400 billions of Forints (over 1 billion EUR) on wage raise so far. Thus doctors got 207 thousand forints more in the past two years.

Source: hvg.hu