site.btaAt National Meeting, Head Nurses Discuss Staff Shortage

Shortages in the national healthcare system were discussed Wednesday at a national meeting of head nurses at St. Anne University Hospital in Sofia. The event was organized by the Bulgarian Association of Health Care Professionals (BAHCP).

The meeting mainly focused on the reasons for the stuff shortage in medical establishments and possible solutions, the need for the society to understand the importance of having sufficient number of medical professionals to achieve quality healthcare.

BAHCP Chair Milka Vassileva said that very often politicians do not pay attention to what the healthcare workers call for and this reflects in the quality of medical service.

Vassileva presented data as of December 31, 2023, showing that nurses in Bulgaria number 23,867. There are about 4,200 midwives and 3,126 medical laboratory technicians. X-ray technicians are 1,467, paramedics 1,926, physician assistants 120 and rehabilitation therapists 1,358.

On average, the EU has 710 nurses per 100,000 population, while in Bulgaria this ratio is only 370 per 100,000, which is another system’s problem, said Vassileva.

The statistics show that the average age of nurses in Bulgaria is 53 years. Young people “must be given wings” to make a career in these professions, she said.

European education for nurses and midwives is the best ever, the BAHCP Chair said. 

The BAHCP calls for political agreement on the development of healthcare in Bulgaria and the development of a national strategy with an action plan until 2030. 

The opening of a large number of new hospitals and aggressive competition to attract staff are among the reasons for the shortage of specialists, said the Head Nurse and Health Care Director at the St. Anne University Hospital, Mariana Koleva. She also mentioned the demographic crisis and emigration as factors aggravating the staff shortage in the healthcare system.