Nurses and midwives fight for raises. The ministry responds

The protest was organized by the National Trade Union of Nurses and Midwives, but was also supported by the professional government. The protesters stressed that they would not let themselves be divided. They recalled that although almost a year has passed since the day the new provisions of the Minimum Wage Law took effect (July 1, 2022), some of them have not yet received the raises they are due (by the way, this is what opposition MPs will be asking the Health Minister about as early as Thursday, during parliamentary question time with the government). The nurses submitted their own draft amendment to the law to the Sejm, which they said corrects the mistakes made in agreeing, behind their backs (since they did not participate in the RDS team talks in the fall of 2021), the shape of the legislation that came into effect.

The Health Ministry responds: On July 1, further increases go into effect (due to the change in the base amount, this is more of a salary valorization than a real wage increase, salaries will rise below the inflation rate), and nurses' salaries will increase by nearly 900 to over 640 zlotys, depending on the group. The ministry also explains that no exception can be made for nurses and midwives, because the amount of salary depends on the qualifications required for the job in the Labor Code regulations.

Although the nurses' and midwives' protest has attracted media attention, at the moment the key questions concern less spectacular issues, namely the pool of funds that health care providers will receive due to rising operating costs. The Minister of Health estimates them at 14 billion zlotys per year, which is less - despite several percent inflation - than last year (18 billion zlotys). The fact is that it was last year that wages rose by leaps and bounds, due to the change in coefficients; this year, the costs of minimum wage increases alone will not be as great. However, the other costs (leaving aside the fact that employees would like to receive such increases that would at least offset inflation) are rising very fast. Adam Niedzielski announced on Monday that details of the solutions to the valuation changes will emerge on Thursday - then providers will be able to calculate how much higher revenues from the payer will cover their costs. A separate issue is money: this year it should be a minimum of 7 billion additional zlotys. The amendment to the Fund's financial plan speaks of nearly PLN 4.8 billion in additional contributions, the problem is that the Fund has "spread" them out for additional services (including financing coordinated care in primary care or the functioning of the National Oncology Network). At the same time, these funds are indicated as a source of coverage for wage increases. Perhaps this will also be discussed on Wednesday by members of the Health Committee, which will take up the amendment to the NFZ financial plan for 2023.