site.btaDoctors in Romanian Out-patient Care Protest Contemplated Budget Cut

Doctors in Romanian out-patient services are protesting in polyclinics across the country a contemplated budget cut for medical services. Family doctors are preparing to join them. They are unhappy with a contemplated 30% budget cut for healthcare from February 1.

The situation is critical because 4,000 family doctors are already of retirement age and have threatened to retire of the budget cut plan materializes, Digi24 reports.

"In 2023, family medicine received 4.8 billion lei. Now, in 2024, they will give us almost a billion less. This means a drop of about 30% in the income of family doctors. We will surely reduce salaries, some practices will close down and the shortage of doctors will increase," Valentin Pantea, a family doctor from Bihor district, told Digi24.

He says young family doctors are not coming to take over practices, especially in the countryside, as they are not financially motivated.

"Three-four years ago, we had 13,000 personal doctors in the country. Now we are down to 9,900 because there are retirees, others have died and there are no young family doctors," adds Valentin Pantea.

The protests will continue until 31 January.