Doctors in Slovakia continue with their efforts to get the Ministry of Health to rethink its policies, with a report this week that as many as 3,000 physicians have now joined the mass resignation protest, but the ministry is playing it down.
Ministry spokeswoman Katarina Zollerova is cited as saying the ministry doesn’t expect a mass resignation to take place as the effects of steps already taken would save money and so boost the health service.
The doctors’ trade union organisation LOZ started rallying doctors to support the mass resignation in June and now boasts the support of over 3,000 signatories. Zollerova pointed out that although the ministry agrees with most of the demands, to be able to raise salaries and get more cash for hospitals, the hospitals must first be turned into joint stock companies.
This is a point of contention, however, as the doctors do not want this transformation to go ahead, feeling it would affect the whole system too much.