MZ: No money for nurses this year, but...
Published April 11, 2024 13:39

The reason? As he said at Thursday's meeting of the special subcommittee working on the bill, there is no money for anything more this year than the implementation of the law in its current form. The costs will certainly amount to more than 15 billion zlotys for the whole year - that's more than the planned increase in health spending (although, of course, plan execution is always higher).
The Ministry of Health acknowledges that the differences between Group 2 (nurses and midwives with master's degrees and specializations) and Groups 5 and 6 are too great, and wants to close them somewhat by raising the ratios. - We want these salary ratios to go towards the higher group 2, but not as fast as the applicants expect and not to this level. We propose that as of January 1, 2025, this ratio for group 5 would be 1.1. The basic salary would thus rise to PLN 7871. For group 6, the salary would increase to the level of PLN 7298. As of January 1, 2026, the coefficient for group 5 would be 1.15 (and the salary would be PLN 9630), and for group 6 it would be 1.08 (and the salary for this group would be PLN 9043), Kos reported.
The calculations are based on MF estimates of the rate of increase in the base amount. Employees in groups 5 and 6 would receive increases in 2026 four times: on January 1, 2025, the coefficient by which the "old" base amount (from July 2024) would be multiplied would change; on July 1, 2025, there would be another increase - due to the change in the base amount. It would be analogous in 2026. All other health care workers would be able to count on raises (resulting from the law) once a year, in July - as at the moment.
Another ministry proposal takes into account the demand for the recognition of qualifications held rather than required when classifying an employee in a particular group. The ministry proposes that an employer's obligation to recognize qualifications held be included in the law, but only if the qualification is upgraded by order of the employer or with the employer's consent.
- Our data shows that the cost of raising minimum wages from July 2023 was more than PLN 15 billion. The current law systematically raises wages in health care. Thus, from July 1, 2024, salaries will increase by 12 percent, which, in light of the low annual inflation rate, will be a significant increase," Marek Kos explained. The deputy minister stressed that the cost of implementing the nursing project would reach almost PLN 9 billion if it covered all employees, including those working on contracts, for example. There is no such money in the budget, and the expectations of other professional groups are also a problem - by the way, their representatives already signaled during the subcommittee meeting that raising the coefficients in only two groups disturbs the already fragile balance, because after two years of adjustment, nurses in group 6 will earn more than doctors in training and nurses in group 5 - not much less than doctors without specialization.
Marek Kos announced that the Trilateral Team for Health Care will deliberate on the ministry's proposal. Perhaps by the end of April it will be possible to develop a position, which will then be presented to the subcommittee. This, in turn, means that, contrary to earlier announcements, the subcommittee will not yet (long) complete its work.