Labor shortage – Government would like to keep more doctors, nurses in Hungary

Budapest, March 8 (MTI) – The number of doctors and nurses seeking employment abroad has continued to drop over the past few years thanks to government measures to staunch the exodus, a senior government official said on Wednesday.

Wage increases, support for junior doctors, health-care development projects and increased resources are behind the turnaround, human resources state secretary Bence Rétvári told a press conference.

The number of doctors applying to leave Hungary to work abroad dropped by 19 percent between 2015 and 2016 and by 50 percent to the present compared with 2010-2011, he said.

The same measure for nurses showed a 15 percent annual drop last year, he added.

Retvari said a new four-year wage increase was already showing favourable effects in the sector, and this also applied to pharmacists and dentists.

Concerning health-care spending, Rétvári cited OECD data showing an annual increase in resources since 2010. The data also show 14.5 doctors for every 100,000 Hungarians compared with an EU average of just 12.3.

Source: MTI