Irina Zhihar: In five years, there will be nobody able to treat in Belarus

Failed strike of the 2nd City Clinical Hospital’s doctors has showed that the medical branch in Belarus is sent into a fever.

This opinion to the Information Service EuroBelarus expressed Irina Zhihar, the chairwoman of the Republican Public Association "Belarusan Organization of Working Women".

Let us recall that around 30 doctors of the 2nd Minsk Clinical Hospital promised to resign after September 30, if they wouldn’t get their salaries increased. The hospital doctors were demanding more than half wages’ rise. "The government promised to increase doctors’ salaries, but the doctors who are more than one hundred thousand in the country, require an adequate wage increase of at least 700 euros. Medicians are not considered by anyone against the background of rising prices for food and utilities in the country. The trade unions of medical persons are in the hands of corrupt administrative executives. Wage is a the state’s assessment of employees’ labour, level of his/her skills, his/her knowledge and efforts", is written in a letter.

Acting chairman of the trade union committee of the 2nd Minsk Clinical Hospital Eugene Hramkov denied the information about the strike. He called the letter published on the Internet a disorderly conduct and said that at the doctors’ staff meeting it became clear that no one had heard anything about the planned strike.

Irina Zhihar doesn’t believe that doctors will dare to strike. Being in the past an employee of the trade union newspaper "The worker", she recalled as the Federation of Trade Unions of Belarus planned the protests fifteen years ago. The only trade union that refused to take part, was the trade union of community health workers.

- Doctors have always been far from such shares. I do not believe that doctors are capable to do this, especially in our country where the strike is almost impossible to carry out in accordance with the law, because the law is constituted in such a way that actually it does not allow people conducting this form of protest, said Irina Zhihar.

The “doctors’ letter” published by "Belarusan partisan" states that a nurse salary is between 1 million 85 thousand to 1 million 450 thousand rubles. Surgeons’ salaries grew to an average of 2 million 200 thousand, those of physicians - up to 1 million 725 thousand, and those of nurses in hospitals - to 900 thousand, and "even" up to 1 million 230 thousand rubles.

The issue of remuneration to any doctor is perhaps a key one. Average wages of health workers in July 2012 was 3 million 184.8 thousand rubles. Due to the low wages, an active outflow of health workers from Belarus takes place. Medical high schools do not produce as many professionals as many doctors leave the country. About three thousand young professional medicians graduate each year. But these are young doctors, and those who leave the country are mature reputed doctors who just want a better life.

- Of course, not everyone can leave. But if the government does not take any measures to stop the specialists’ outflow, then, according to various forecasts of mid-level managers, in around five years, there will be nobody in Belarus able to treat: the professionals will leave. A professional medician should receive a good wage, not trying to survive, working in one’s haste in two or three private medical centers in order to earn enough, believes Irina Zhihar.

Herewith, she notes that the point is not just wages, it is the considerate attitude to the staff. Professionals want to be appreciated. Therefore it is necessary to deal with the syndrome of burnout syndrome. After all, doctors take on a barrage of patients’ aggression: people come with pain and often can not behave appropriately at the same time. According to Irina Zhihar, also there is also need of the physicians’ psychological rehabilitation system.