Hard slap for Igor Matovič. Nurses are disappointed with the “historic salary increase” | TVNOVINY.sk – TVNOVINY.sk

The Slovak Chamber of Nurses and Midwives (SKSaPA) expresses disappointment over the proposal to adjust the salaries of nurses and midwives, which was presented on Thursday by the Slovak Minister of Health Vladimír Lengvarský (OĽANO nominee) and the Minister of Finance Igor Matovič (OĽANO). TASR was informed about this by the director of the SKSaPA office, Lukáš Kober. They did not even fulfill what they have in the program statement of the government “If this is the result of negotiations behind closed doors and the announced sudden increase in wages, we cannot express satisfaction with the presented increase in the gross wages of nurses and midwives,” it follows from the reaction of SKSaPA, saying that they expected their acceptance proposals to adjust basic salaries, but this did not happen. They reminded that the government of the Slovak Republic did not even fulfill its own program statement, in which it talks about increasing the salaries of nurses and midwives to at least 110 percent of the average earnings in the national economy. Instead of 40 percent, they increased it by 11 percent. The goal of the SKSaPA proposal, which they discussed with the Minister of Health until now, was to stabilize the nurses in the system and attract new people – graduates. The proposal contained two elements, namely the basic wage, which should be increased by 40 percent, a 440-euro increase. At the same time, the proposal also contained a new element, namely bonuses for years of experience. “Unfortunately, according to Matovič’s proposal, the basic wage will increase by only 11 percent, which is roughly 126 euros, which we do not consider compensatory or motivational. The proposed increase in the basic wage is therefore very low and is not competitive with neighboring countries,” the opinion states. According to SKSaPA, this would help stabilize nurses with practice, but not attract graduates. Bonuses for years of service are positive. They see positive bonuses for years of service in the proposal – up to a maximum of 20 percent, which, according to SKSaPA, can increase wages by 226 to 253 euros, but only for senior nurses. They recalled that two other categories of nurses and midwives, namely nurses with a certificate and nurses with a master’s degree and specialization, were not mentioned during the press conference. They forgot about 14,000 nurses in outpatient clinics or nursing homes “It should be noted that the announced salary increase will only apply to one third of the nurses and midwives who work in institutional health care facilities. It does not affect the other 14,000 nurses in outpatient clinics and home nursing care agencies , school facilities or social service facilities, which are paid on the basis of the Act on the performance of work in the public interest or the Labor Code or agreements with the employer,” the opinion reads. As SKSaPA claims, that is why they proposed at the negotiations that health workers be remunerated by a common and special law, where the conditions of remuneration would be defined regardless of where and for which employer they work. SKSaPA added that it will ask nurses and midwives whether they agree or disagree with the Slovak government’s proposal and how they plan to express their disagreement publicly.​ On Thursday, the Minister of Finance presented a proposal to increase the salaries of nurses in institutional health facilities. According to him, nurses without experience would start with a salary at the level of the average wage. The proposal should be subject to public discussion.