Emigration: thousands of Hungarian doctors work in Germany

As we reported, more and more doctors leave Hungary to work in Western-European countries for much higher wages. In fact, most of them go to Great-Britain, Germany and Switzerland. As a result, there is a considerable shortage in many sectors of Hungarian health care. In contrast, according to Hír TV, it is hard to find a hospital in Germany without at least one Hungarian doctor or nurse.

Many doctors choose emigration to get a higher salary

According to the Hungarian Hospital Association,

5-6 thousand Hungarian doctors are working abroad now, which equals 10% of their total number.

As a result, there were

7028 open positions in health and social care last summer.

The Hungarian health care system lacks, for example, anaesthetists, intensive therapists, internists, local doctors and surgeons. Also, there are not enough doctors in baby and child care, obstetrics and gynaecology. What’s more, these doctors are being missed not only in Hungary, but also the whole European Union.

Since wages and working conditions are better in Western-Europe than in Hungary many doctors and nurses choose to work there. For example, according to a report done by the National Healthcare Services Centre (NHSC),

the number of doctors who left Hungary in the first half of 2016 was above 400.

The problem is much more complex

According to the German Medical Association (Bundesärztekammer), the