Linas Jegelevičius
Unhappy with work conditions, employees go on strike. But the dissatisfaction with their workplace has led to unconventional protest forms among doctors and nurses in Lithuania, where they simply walk out and never return. It is estimated that, recently, up to 100 doctors and other specialists have left various Lithuanian medical institutions.
“That’s the reality that, until now, our decision makers did not want to address and were just looking for scapegoats. We urge politicians to solve the problem of the shortage of doctors as soon as possible, as well as all the other related issues. We’ve prepared and made public a 10-provision proposal aiming to increase the number of doctors, prevent more doctors from leaving their jobs, improve their working conditions and increase the salaries,” Auristida Gerliakienė, chairwoman of the Board of the Lithuanian Medical Movement (LMS), which held meetings in various Seimas factions this week acquainting the MPs with the proposals, told BNN.
In July, 12 doctors left Zarasai Hospital,
who did not agree with the reorganisation of the hospital implemented by the municipality. According to the doctors, the local authorities did not answer the questions raised by the doctors regarding the further operation of the hospital and did not respond to their requests. Due to the lack of doctors, the activities of several hospital departments in Zarasai have been suspended.
Problems with doctors leaving their jobs also arose in the Raseiniai municipality. Reportedly, seven employees were to leave the town’s hospital over what they deem untransparent competition for a new head of the local hospital. Due to the outgoing doctors, the internal medicine department of the Raseiniai hospital has started to limit the scheduled admission of patients.
The most recent case of doctor walkouts was registered in the Vilnius Centre polyclinic, where several dozens of doctors – to be exact,
40 doctors, nurses and auxiliary workers – quit their job at once.
Facing a wave of criticism, the mayor of Vilnius, Valdas Benkunskas, dismissed the polyclinic’s manager Zdislavas Skvarciany. As indicated by the Vilnius municipality, the head of the polyclinic was fired for demeaning the authority of the health system.
Many others Lithuanian hospitals have also warned of complicated situations due to the acute shortage of doctors, low salaries, lack of training, the excessive administrative burden and abnormal workloads.
Needless to say, the doctors’ walkouts were horrifying to their patients and a blow to both the local and national healthcare systems.
On Monday, the 11th of September, several parliamentary fractions demanded an urgent meeting of the Health Affairs Committee of the Seimas due to the mass resignation of doctors. Specifically, the Social Democrats
urged to stop the ongoing reform of health care institutions.
Some say it could be described by amalgamation of hospitals and other medical institutions, which is a questionable practice to many.
“The Lithuanian Medical Association has presented the package of proposals to the Speaker of the Seimas (Viktorija Čmilytė-Nielsen – L. J.) and members of her Liberal Movement faction to solve the shortage of doctors and to address the others chronic issues,” A. Gerliakienė said.
According to her, the liberals were “very surprised” to see the level of current problems in the health system. “I consider that very positive. We were assured that our package of proposals would be considered in the group and final decisions would be made on further steps,” the LMS leader said.
A. Gerliakienė warns that if politicians do not take decisions to improve the working conditions of doctors as soon as possible, most doctors
will emigrate or will no longer work in the field of health care.
“Decisions must be made as soon as possible and they must be political and sufficiently radical. If this problem continues to be treated with indifference, we will simply lose our greatest asset – people”, she expressed a caveat.
The LMS head emphasised to BNN that the entire systems, like that of the Lithuanian territorial health insurance fund and e-sveikata (e-health) ought to be overhauled and revamped immediately.
“Alas, the topic of a health system reform is on everybody’s lips, but, looking at the large picture, very little has been done in reforming the sector since the restoration of independence in 1990. In addition, we have to immediately address the demographical reality we have. The fact is that 20-year-olds constitute just one-third of the country’s 50-year-olds, so, with the same financing model in place, we will definitely be facing the sector’s collapse in the future,” A. Gerliakienė emphasised to BNN.
Aurelijus Veryga, a former Health minister and a MP of the opposition Lithuanian Peasants and Greens Union (LVŽS), has no doubt that the doctor walkout scandals are related to the undergoing reform of the network of the country’s health care institutions and blames the current Minister of Health, Arūnas Dulkys, for them.
Meanwhile, Linas Slušnys, a MP of the ruling Homeland Union, and member of the parliamentary Health Committee, come in defence of the minister and insists that the aforementioned hospitals cannot be measured by the same yardstick.
“As for the Centre polyclinic in the capital, as well as the hospital in Raseiniai is concerned, it is obvious that there is a crisis of confidence in the management and it is not related to the health system reform,” he told delfi.lt
But A. Veryga warns that
the drastic measures being increasingly taken by medics is a very bad omen.
“What we see happening is only the beginning… I see this ongoing strong push of medicine into the private sector, which already happened with pharmacy and dentistry,” former minister underscored.
But L.Slušnys shoots back, saying that private medical institutions complain that the state includes too few of them in the national health care system.
“Our goal is not to push someone somewhere, the goal of the entire reform is for current doctors to have the opportunity and earn in this system, so that people receive services, and then we concentrate where services can be provided – any district, any municipality can do that. The only answer is that we, the health care system and the self-government, must make an effort together,” he argues.
However, the Ministry of Health maintains that the main problem in Lithuania is not the lack of doctors, but their uneven distribution among medical institutions in big cities and districts.
Just another issue in the Lithuanian healthcare sector? Or is it in a Catch-22 situation?