...and soon only monkeys will be left working in Polish hospitals. But Poles don't seem to care.
Q: How much do doctors earn in Poland?
A: Bugger all.
OK, the cost of living in Poland is, for most things, much lower than in the West. But still, the conditions that fully trained doctors are being forced to work under is criminally bad here. What’s worse, Poles don’t seem to be able to grasp the problem.
Reuters reports that, after years of highly technical training:
Their average pay is 1,800 zlotys ($550) a month, only 70 percent of the average wage in industry, forcing many to find second jobs or work overtime. Hospitals are in debt to government, drug supppliers and utilities.
"We are increasingly desperate," said Zbigniew Strzelczak, an obstetrician-gynecologist with a state hospital in the southern city of Czestochowa, who came to Warsaw with his colleagues to protest in front of parliament.
"There are shortages in medical equipment, medicine -- basic stuff. This government, as all its predecessors, does not want to deal with this problem. It just cannot be like this."
An air traffic controller here – who has a job with equal responcibility but with much less training - gets about six times more in basic salary than a doctor!
On April 3 doctors staged a one-day strike, where they only cared for patients needing emergency treatment. They are demanding a 30% increase this year and a one hundred percent increase the year after that. That would bring their wages up to just over 4,000 zlotys a month – still a ridiculously low wage for such a skilled and vital workforce.
You would think that Poles, who rely as we all do on these workers for maintaining our health and occasionally saving our lives, would be up in arms about this and would be keen to lend their support to such protest action, wouldn’t you? Well, you would be wrong.
Many Poles I have talked to about this just sneer at doctors, saying, “Well, they take bribes, you know?”
Yes, I did know that. You can bribe the doctor to move you up waiting lists, etc. That’s been going on here for decades. But is it really surprising that they are taking bribes when they get treated with such contempt by society?
The Health Minister, former heart surgeon Zbigniew Religa, has offered to bring forward a 30% increase this year. And that’s all he says can be afforded.
Reuters again:
Medical workers remained skeptical.
"What they offer is a one-off increase only for some medical staff and the rest is just gibberish. There will surely be more protests," said Krzysztof Bukiel, the head of the Polish Doctors Union. "The situation is hopeless and without any prospects."
Poland spends around 6 percent of its gross domestic product on health, according to 2003 data, among the lowest levels in the OECD club of the world's most developed countries.
Polish doctors are starting to vote with their feet. Since it joined the EU last year 5% of medical staff have left Poland, gone to countries where they get more respect.
One day Poles are going to wake up to discover that there are no doctors left in the country at all. And it will be their own fault.
Will the last doctor to leave Poland please turn off the lights.
See latest developments on this story here and here.
20 comments:
'Will the last doctor to leave Poland please turn off the lights.'
That's right and what's more: this scenario fits almost any educated persons group in this country. Poland is becoming a source of highly educated staff for other european countries. That is a tragedy. Polish citizens pay taxes, their money is spent on education of their children who are about to be future middle or high class of this country. But instead of staying here and building this country power, they migrate west. Does it mean they do wrong ? NO! They are smart, they are motivated, they are highly educated. Todays Gazeta Wyborcza daily has an article about polish ingineers pulling international companies to open their R&D centers in Poland here (in polish). But that is a chance only for ingineers, mainly in IT business. What about the rest of polish staff with higher education ? They see no future here. I mean, what's a point in wasting your young life here. You have to study for 6 years to become a doctor, than do practice for another couple of years and then... you get less than 2000 zl. That is humiliating. No wonder any doctor (or other educated person) who speaks some foreign language seeks way to move to a better place, where not only he can earn more but also he may be treated with respect.
Am I not patriotic ? Maybe... or maybe not. I believe, there is no other choice for this country and especially for this nation than give them (us?) a paintfull lesson, just as Norman Davies has written in one of last Newsweek Polska magazines. Poland is wasting a chance to become a 'european tiger'. It is almost a sin not to use such human and location potential. I just hope, punishment for this sin is not going to be permanent.
This could be a real concern for me, as my wife's mum may not be well, and she may need help from Polish doctors. She's too proud a Polish patriot to come to England for treatment.
In England the NHS has its problems - though my mum just received exemplary treatment recently. It was in a teaching hospital, and they're generally the best.
I've availed myself of Polish dentistry; because it's good, and much, much cheaper than in the UK. Dentistry tourism is common in Hungary and Croatia. Maybe there's a market for it in Poland too.
@georgesdelatour
Dentistry tourism is already present in Poland. I've heard about British people flying cheap airlines to Poland to do their teeths. I personally know two Americans and one Greek who did it. The problem is: can you image anyone going here for, let's say, a heart operation or to cure a flu ? No ? Me neither. It is a chance for dentists and plastic surgeons. Rest of medical staff have to cure polish people and be payed from polish national healh care system earning less than welder after 2 years of work.
Wolf Moon if more young people voted, then PiS wouldn't have won both elections and things would probably be considerably better even as I write this. Instead many didn't vote ("because it doesn't matter" or "I'm not interested in politics") and now they have their just deserts. Apathy and planning to emigrate are no way to develop a country.
Let's not forget nurses, the day to day standard care in hospitals depends more on nurses than doctors. And they're paid far worse than doctors (without the chance to get bribes or supplement their earnings in private practices).
Rather than pay them more, the Polish government tried to make sure that Polish nurses training wouldn't be recognized in the EU. But Polish nurses training is still above that of most EU countries and almost all the younger people going into nurse training programs are doing so with an eye to emigrating.
Poland also has one of (or the) lowest budget for medical care as a percentage of GNP (I think around 4%).
How is the Polish system organized? Is it like the UK (everything funded centrally through taxes and free "at the point of delivery" - plus a small private insurance-based sector for he more well-off)? Or like Switzerland (compulsory health insurance, with government top-ups to the insureres for the poor)? Or like what?
As a British Citizen married to a Senior Polish Health Service Nurse and living in Poland,I would say my wife's monthly wages are very low like the doctors,or less.
If the trained hospital staff are younger,with no children-they will go to the UK or Ireland to work.That's the sensible think to do if you are free and speak English.
I tell my wife that she doesn't have to work,as my moderate UK salary easily covers the relatively low costs for us in Poland,but she says she would hate not to have her nurse's job at the moment and would probably go mad with me all day! That's dedication for you!
Let's hope that in 10 or 20 years, some of these forward thinking bright young people going abroad will come back and be running Poland. At the moment this lot of Polish Politicians would probably mug your granny!The PIS party and their extremist coalition sidekicks are a disaster for Poland.Donald Tusk's Civic Platform should have been given a chance in my opinion.However,maybe the the Polish People thought,"better the Devil you know", at the recent elections.
For now,I think Poles faith is keeping them going and for the others who are not so strong in faith-cheap alcohol.
George, IIRC it used by more like the British system (with a large private sector as well but no health insurance, you want private you paid cash).
Then it was reformed 6 or 7 years ago to be more like the German system (Krankenkassen, regionally based universal healthcare insurance funds which purchased services from providers, free care had to be with someone with a contract with the fund in your region, otherwise you had to pay). If you were treated by a contracted provider outside your region you had to pay or arrange a transfer of services between funds. It was all very complicated (in a country where people don't want to do complicated if they can get out of it).
Then the ex-communists won the elections (partly on a platform of undoing said reform which was wildly unpopular). But, realizing that a return to the old system was impossible, the changes made were cosmetic and mostly amounted to changing the name and centralizing things a bit more.
I wonder if it has something to do with the fact that most Polish doctors are women, unlike in the West...
I see you guys are on form.
Welcome johnc16!
Tell your wife I think she is fab and to keep up the great work, please! If twenty percent of Polish medical staff really do go abroad (as it says in the reuters piece) then we are really in trouble here.
I have had good experience with Polish dentists and on horrendous one, which I won’t scare you with.
Mike is right – the answer to Poland’s problems is with the young. But if they all bugger off somewhere else then we will be left with the very nice and interesting but slightly incompetent older Poles. Not good.
Sonia – don’t know the gender ratios, but there are lots of professions that women traditionally do here that are slightly suprising – like accountancy and banking(which in the west are male preserves, of course)!
But back to my main point – Poles are not getting behind doctors and supporting them in the strike action and campaigns. When the doctors go on a one day strike again – and there will be a next time – workers in other industries should support them.
If Poland does not have decently paid medical staff then the country, and its not particularly healthy population (poverty makes you sick!) will be further impoverished.
Support Polish doctors! It’s the healthy option!
By the way, John Chapter 16 is the bit in the Bible when Jesus has come back from the dead and is just about to go up to heaven, is it not?
Verily, verily, I say unto you, That ye shall weep and lament, but the world shall rejoice: and ye shall be sorrowful, but your sorrow shall be turned into joy.
I reckon that's right. But if we don't have any doctors...
Yes and Hungary is not in a better shape neither.
Seemingly every year Hungary got about 400 doctor leaving the country - that equals to 30 million EUR lost in the form of training subsidies and such.
Also, the healthcare here simply sucks! Stay healthy and pray :)...
Another side effect of this low pay is an interesting one. I believe that the pharmaceutical industry in Poland is around the third largest in Europe. If we take a minute to ponder the cause of this here, it won't take you long to figure that this low rate of pay may be related to this difference.
Are Poles hypochondriacs by nature or by gentle steering and financial incentives to doctors from the pharmaceutical companies?
I understand this a bit of a leap, but doctors do have the financial need, and the pharmaceuticals have the finance. A student of mine tells me that her sister was placed in treatment that was not given on the basis of its effectiveness but the fact that the company that provided it offered the doctor some kind of reward for using their treatment.
Of course this is speculation but their is no denying that this financial situation will have effects beyond emigration and cash bribes...
Hello. I'm a Polish dentist.I think I've had enough and decided to move to UK. My wife is also a dentist - it'll be easier for us to move as we don't have any children yet. 90% of young doctors doesn't want to stay in Poland - they'll move to UK, Australia, Ireland, Norway, etc. And when they get used to earning a lot of money, getting respect they deserve and generally beeing treated as a human beeings instead of overworked, underpayed slave-labor force - they'll NEVER come back.
I from Poland. I crap person from crap country. I come here to work cheap and take job away from english worker. I pay no tax and collect job seekers allowance at the same time I have job. Next year my cousins come here from Romania and Bulgaria. They also crap people from crap countries. Also next year my family come and live with me. No my real family but
I pretend they are to get big free house to live in with them and get plenty benefits too. What you expect from us east europeans? It is our culture to screw other countries! Sorry, I must go now. I have to cash benefit cheque.
I am here because of search results for blogs with a related topic to mine.
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Pssssshhhrzzzdsh!
sphhhffrtdz,shhhrdz shhski shimash.
What? you don't understad me?
WHY? It's not snake it's polish, absolutely nice and beautiful language in the world. the best one by the way.
I am from very famous polish village and I travelled a lot. Our pigsty, for example.
Now you are lucky, I am here in UK.
I work very hard for 1 pound per hour. Soon I become a millionaire. My God, sorry I mean my BOSS likes me very much. He offered me to make him tea on breaks and he kicked out from work all those lazy english. Hi-hi he doesn't know that I am the laziest one. But it is not a problem. Soon all my friends and all my relatives and their friends and relatives come here and work for 1 pound. They already got their one way tickets, because they do not have enough money for return. But I think it is not a problem, because all of them stay here forever. Now it is time for you to learn beautiful polish language.
I am afraid of one thing only: that UK soon become the same crap and shit country as our beautiful poland. But it is not my problem it is yours.
Now it is enough I am very educated and experienced and I have diploma from Shhhkrrzzztsss(poland)computer univercity, but it took me whole day to write this great message.
Now I deserve a lot of relax. I go and buy a lot of vodka and beer. I will be drunk like pig and I will sing beautiful polish folk songs all night until morning.
I am a polish-canadian pre-medical student, and I am appalled by the comments left by anonymous. They are vulgar, and racist.
poland is a whore country, poles take and take but give nothing in return. shktrssshshhtsch
I made the last comment about about Poland being a whore. I'm sorry, I take it back. People just want to make a better living that's all.
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