More than 3,000 doctors in Slovakia plan to resign en masse on New Year's Eve over pay and working conditions. CGTN’s Pablo Gutierrez reports from Bratislava.
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00:00It's an emergency for Slovakia's healthcare system.
00:05Over 3,000 doctors are set to resign on New Year's Eve because of their frustrations with the government.
00:13We would like the state to pay more money to hospitals so the hospitals can then deliver better healthcare.
00:21Doctors accused the government of breaking promises.
00:24In 2022, it signed a 13-point memorandum with the doctors' union that guaranteed wage increases,
00:31better training, and improved hospital conditions.
00:34But Martin Smetana, a healthcare economist, says those promises have been abandoned.
00:41I really hope we won't come to this point because this will end when the first patient dies who didn't have to die.
00:48Experts say public hospitals are experiencing staffing shortages,
00:53and nearly 20% of new doctors choose to leave the country after graduation in search of better salaries abroad.
01:02The Slovak government recently approved a wage boost.
01:06It raises pay for nurses but has left doctors feeling betrayed.
01:11We're demanding the 9.7% increase promised to them back in 2022 and not the 6.4% that is currently on the table.
01:22Slovakia's government argues that cost-cutting is needed to meet EU budget requirements,
01:27but doctors say the issue goes beyond pay.
01:30They broke the deal, and we want the deal back.
01:33With no end to the dispute in sight, the government has intensified pressure on doctors,
01:39recently introducing a bill threatening up to one year in prison for walkouts.
01:44The conflict has left the public and patients caught in the middle.
01:48I support the doctors because healthcare in Slovakia is in bad shape.
01:52We have few beds, old equipment, and long waiting times.
01:56I understand why they're unhappy. They have valid reasons, but I hope both sides can find a solution.
02:02Negotiations between the government and the doctors' union have stalled,
02:06but if the resignations go through, it means over half of the 6,000 doctors
02:12currently employed in Slovakia's hospitals will be out of work.
02:16For now, patients in hospitals brace for uncertainty, while healthcare workers demand real change.
02:23Pablo Gutierrez, CGTN, Bratislava, Slovakia.