site.btaProtesting Nurses Meet with PM, Tell Him of Flagrant Violations in Hospitals

Sofia, December 16 (BTA) - Meeting with nurses who have been protesting for months against inadequate working conditions and low pay, Prime Minister Boyko Borissov heard from them stories of flagrant violations of the rules in hospitals. The Prime Minister met with the nurses after they threatened to remain under the government's windows until Borissov agreed to meet with them because meetings they have had over their grievances with other government officials have not produced any results.

The Prime Minister told the nurses that he agreed to meet with them not because he hated to be under the pressure of protests but because he "felt it was wrong to keep the nurses outside". The meeting was live-streamed on Facebook by Borissov.

The attending nurses told the Prime Minister of doctors who are on a hospital's payroll but do not really work there; patients getting sick leave without being sick; doctors syphoning the National Health Insurance Fund and over-reporting their work hours. They also told him about how they work long hours in violation of the Labour Code.

The stories revealed tensions between the doctors and the nursing staff.

The Prime Minister could be heard telling somebody to ask the Interior Minister to join the meeting with the nurses - and he joined shortly after.

The Prime Minister said that "the prosecution service will likely be interested when they hear this".

The nurses said they do not want to be part of the theft in the health care system any more and want to be honest workers. "We don't want to be part of this theft of taxpayers' money because this is our money, our future pensions," said one.

They said they want to earn a decent living but they need to work at two or three places for that, and that is inhuman.

The nurses and the Prime Minister discussed measures to be taken: adopting a framework agreement to set out the rules for distributing the money for wage among the various categories of medical professionals and ensure adequate pay for the nursing staff; tighter controls in hospitals; taking measures to attract more students in nursing education; making sure employers observe the rules for incentivizing the continued training of nurses.

The framework agreement is due to be signed on December 20.

The nurses asked a collective agreement to be signed and made mandatory for all employers of nursing specialists. They expect this to regulate wages, extra time, rest time, paid leave. The Prime Minister promised to make that happen. Health Minister Kiril Ananiev said that would be hard to achieve.

The Prime Minister said he "now has a better idea what needs to be done". LN/