OZZL on doctors' salaries

The National Board of OZZL is reacting to the statement of Health Minister Izabela Leszczyna, who said on the "You rise and you know" program on TVN24: "from the data I have from the Agency for the Assessment of Medical Technologies and Tarification, it appears that yes, there are some doctors who present an invoice of 299 thousand." Minister Izabela Leszczyna also asked the AOTMiT for additional analysis to see if the health system could handle the salaries, pointing out that the cost of the increases was 100 billion zlotys from 2022 to 2024.

Position of OZZL

The National Board of OZZL expresses its firm opposition to the form and context of these statements. According to the union, "such formulations draw public attention away from the real culprits of health care problems, divide the medical community, and destroy patients' trust in doctors." OZZL believes that Minister Leszczyna's words were an attempt to shift responsibility for the financial and organizational condition of the health system onto the medical community.

The union stresses that contract doctors, who earn high salaries, are a minority and often work at the limits of health and endurance, performing 200 to 300 hours a month. "This is a question for the Ministry," OZZL points out, referring to the Health Minister's suggestion that "it should be checked whether we can afford such salaries." The union reminds that it is not doctors who price individual procedures, but institutions under the Ministry of Health. "It is the health care system, which is the responsibility of and shaped by the Ministry of Health, that makes such salaries possible." - The OZZL board asserts.

Earnings of salaried doctors in public hospitals

OZZL also cites figures for full-time specialist physicians working in public facilities, who earn approx. PLN 46 net per hour, or about PLN 7,400 per month after all tax charges are taken into account. "These are wages at the level of the salary of cleaning staff employed in a large city," OZZL adds, stressing that this situation could lead to an exodus of specialists from the public sector.

The union fears that growing dissatisfaction among full-time doctors will contribute to further deterioration in the quality of medical care, as specialists increasingly consider leaving the public sector.

OZZL demands: "3 x the national average for a full-time specialist".

In response to the financial situation of doctors, the OZZL reiterates its demands, which invariably read: remuneration for contracted specialists in public facilities should be three times the national average. The union believes that this approach will keep specialists in the public sector, which will directly translate into better patient care.

"This is the only way to keep specialist doctors in public facilities and ensure good quality medical care for patients," he says. - concludes the OZZL in its position paper, calling on the Health Ministry to take steps toward a permanent solution to the problem of financing the work of doctors.

Source: OZZL