Most Hungarians see tipping doctors after treatment as a crime – survey

A majority of Hungarians disapprove of tipping doctors after treatment and want the practice to be classed as a crime, according to Hungarian Academy of Sciences researchers.

Few, however, are familiar with recent legislation that criminalises the acceptance of a gratuity payment in advance, according to the survey conducted by the academy’s Centre for Social Sciences.

Fifty-six percent of respondents said paying gratuities after treatment should be punished, the survey of 1,200 people carried out last October found.

Only 34 percent knew that accepting a gratuity in advance is a crime, the academy said in a statement on Tuesday.

Over 70 percent knew that doctors who accept a tip after treatment do not commit a crime. But only 49 percent were aware that a doctor asking for a fee from a patient entitled to state health-care services free of charge is a crime under Hungarian law.

Aa we wrote a two weeks ago, two-thirds of survey respondents interviewed after Prime Minister Viktor Orbán announced new family assistance measures approved of them, and fully 63 percent of 541 people surveyed expressed satisfaction with the planned measures, read more HERE.

Button

Source: MTI/Hungarian Academy of Sciences