site.btaHospital Financing Will Be Increased by Lv 200 Mln-Plus in 2020, Minister Tells Unions

October 7 (BTA) - The funding for hospitals on the
National Health Insurance Fund (NHIF) budget will be increased
by over 200 million leva next year, Bulgarian Health Minister
Kiril Ananiev told journalists here on Monday. Ananiev, the
leadership of the Confederation of Independent Trade Unions in
Bulgaria (CITUB) and that of the Bulgarian Association of Health
 Professionals in Nursing (BAHPN) met with Deputy Prime Minister
 Tomislav Donchev.

Three-quarters of these 200 million leva will be intended for
staff salaries, Ananiev assured his audience. He added that the
pay levels laid down in the Collective Agreement will become
possible in state-owned hospitals.

The Health Minister was adamant that the spending on salaries
will be strictly controlled. Allotment of part of the cost of
clinical pathways for remuneration has also been planned for
2020.

CITUB President Plamen Dimitrov said that funding of child and
school healthcare had also been discussed at the meeting.

The meeting was held against the backdrop of a national protest
that CITUB and the BAHPN staged here on Monday to demand a pay
rise for doctors and health professionals: a minimum monthly
salary for nurses of 900 leva at municipal hospitals and 950
leva at university hospitals and, respectively, a 1,000 leva and
 1,200 leva starting salary for doctors. The Bulgarian Medical
Association and the Bulgarian Nurses Association are staying out
 of the protest. RY/BR



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