Poland's 200 Hospitals On Open-End Strike

[Jaga]

Some 200 hospitals across Poland were open only to emergency cases as doctors went on an open-end strike demanding higher pay, media said Monday.

The Polish doctors union staged the protest after a futile meeting Friday with Polish Prime Minister Jaroslaw Kaczynski and Health Minister Zbigniew Religa, Polish Radio reported.

The radio said the strike was aimed at forcing the government to meet demands by physicians and medical staff in hospitals and clinics for higher pay. The demands also include the new funding system and privatization procedure.

Last Tuesday, doctors at more than 250 hospitals and clinics staged a "warning strike," demanding a monthly salary be increased to at least $1,800, which is double the Polish national average salary. (c) UPI

www.postchronicle.com/news/breakingnews/article_21282041.shtml

[hollister]

I think I read that the people are actually supporting the doctors in this strike - is that correct?

[varsovian]

Doctors get paid half of what secretaries earn in my downtown Warsaw law firm.

[Jaga]

varsovian said:

Doctors get paid half of what secretaries earn in my downtown Warsaw law firm.

Because doctors live from the state salaries and secretaries work for some rich private companies. Here in America there is also unequality - people are paid not according to their qualifications but according to their work history -- for instance if somebody was paid more before it has to be paid more by the company it went working later on.

Lawyers sometimes earn way too much money in America..

[varsovian]

The state has to get much richer in Poland, and start paying people for their skills.
Pay peanuts, get monkeys.

[hollister]

The average MONTHLY salary for doctors in Poland is $ 460 specialists receive $ 1,080.
So what they are asking for is for their salaries to be more than doubled.

The doctors are asking that patients pay - what we in the US would call a co-pay fee (a portion of the difference between what the doctor charges and what insurance pays for the procedure - a whole other discussion I know) is this an option? Would people pay such a fee and how much would they be willing to pay? What reasoning is the government giving for not raising the salaries?

How much do the PM (even though he puts the money in mom's account and he has to ask for his allowance ) and the Health Minister make?

[george]

When all said and done the fact remains is doctors in Poland are shamefully underpaid. This has gone way too long. Sure, you can argue that some professions in this country are overpaid, but that doesn't justify that Polish doctors deserve more money. For Christ sakes, they deal with humans!