Public choices, private choices
The government has threatened to ban doctors from practicing in both public and private health institutions. "This is a conflict of interest. In Spain there is a law that prohibits such competition. A doctor can work either in a public institution or in a private one, [not both]," Deputy Health Minister Andrzej Włodarczyk told Dziennik. The move is meant to convince doctors, many of whom work in private clinics in addition to their regular time in state hospitals, to consent to work longer hours.
The government's threat is yet another manifestation of a long-running conflict over limits on doctors' working hours between Polish Doctors' Trade Union and successive Polish governments. This latest row was sparked by a new law concerning doctors' hours, enacted in accordance with the European Union's directive, which came into force on January 1.
According to the new law, doctors' consent and additional remuneration are necessary if working hours exceed 48 hours in a week. Previously a doctor's Monday-Friday work week lasted 36.5 hours, but didn't including numerous hours spent "on call." These hours are included in the new law's 48-hour week.
Adoption of the law has stirred fears that it will prove a heavy financial burden for state hospitals and eventually leave them understaffed. At a recent press conference, Health Minister Ewa Kopacz dismissed fears that the new law would leave hospitals in chaos and claimed that negotiations between doctors and hospital directors were being successfully finalized in the vast majority of state hospitals in Poland.
"Successive health ministers have avoided discussion with [our] trade union and resorted to intimidating doctors so that they stop demanding change," said Krzysztof Bukiel, head of the Doctors' Trade Union of Poland. "If the Minister's threat is realized, doctors are more likely to give up their jobs in the public sector than in the private sector, which will make the state of the public health service even worse," he added.
Adam Zdrodowski
