The Health Ministry is still negotiating with the medical trade union (LOZ), stating that it aims to reach an agreement, while refusing to say whether it's planning to introduce a state of emergency due to doctors' resignations, TASR has learnt from the ministry's communications department.
"The Health Ministry's top priority is to ensure reconciliation and to keep doctors in the health-care system. Negotiations with LOZ representatives are ongoing. All of the ministry's steps are aimed at reaching a compromise and agreement with LOZ representatives so that health care will be provided in a standard way as of January," stated ministry.
The ministry declared that its primary task for the time being is to reach a consensus. "Once a joint agreement is reached, the minister will inform the public and the media about the details. As announced, he will present the health-care plan after the tripartite meeting for the sector scheduled for Monday, December 9," added the communications department.
More than 3,300 doctors from hospitals across Slovakia have already filed resignation notices in a show of displeasure with the situation prevailing in health care. They are willing to withdraw them if the government starts meeting their demands. They first and foremost insist that the points of a memorandum from 2022 should be met.
The opposition SaS party is warning that the government might declare a state of emergency due to the situation regarding doctors' resignation notices. The party rejects such a move and doesn't consider forcing doctors to work by adopting a state of emergency to be a solution.
"According to our information, the government is going to adopt a bill at its session that would address the situation by introducing forced labour for doctors who have filed resignation notices," stated MP Tomas Szalay (SaS), criticising the alleged plan and claiming that this is a government failure. "Forced labour is not the solution. The government wants to force doctors to work against their will instead of addressing the causes of the crisis over which these doctors handed in their notice," he stated.
Source: TASR
