site.btaLawmakers Endorse BGN 12.5 Mln Pay Hike for State Psychiatric Hospitals

The Health Committee of the National Assembly decided that the Finance Minister and the Health Minister should take action before the Council of Ministers to secure BGN 12.5 million to raise the gross salaries of employees in State psychiatric hospitals, effective May 1, 2025, Finance Minister Temenuzhka Petkova said here on Wednesday.

The allocation of BGN 12.5 million will meet the demands of hospital directors and ensure the full extent of the requested salary increases. "We will propose that the funds be secured through restructuring the central budget's expenditures," Petkova said.

Earlier in the committee meeting, representatives from the State psychiatric hospitals stated they would not retreat from their demands for a 50% salary increase, better working conditions, and a reclassification of their labour category from third to second.

"I hope the Ministry of Labour and Social Policy, together with the Ministry of Health, will reach a decision on the labour category. There have been similar requests from anaesthetists and surgeons in radiation units, so this issue needs a resolution," Health Committee Chair Kostadin Angelov said. 

"We have discussed this many times, and the problem remains financial. While it would significantly improve salaries and reduce the workload, the lack of staff in certain areas could make it impossible to maintain the current schedule, which is already difficult to implement and subject to penalties from the Labour Inspectorate," Angelov added. 

"I believe a solution can be found, as we all understand that adhering to all medical science standards requires a radical approach to structures that do not meet these standards," he continued.

"We also need to discuss how to motivate graduating doctors to choose psychiatry as a specialty," he added.

In early February 2025, Health Minister Silvi Kirilov announced that more than BGN 30 million was needed to fund state psychiatric hospitals adequately. Throughout March, psychiatrists, nurses, and other employees from facilities across Bulgaria began protesting, demanding a 50% salary increase, a change in their labour classification from third to second category, and better working conditions. On March 26, medical staff from all 12 state psychiatric hospitals held a demonstration in front of the Health Ministry in Sofia, decrying the proposed 5% raise in the 2025 state budget as insufficient. Despite meeting with Kirilov and submitting formal demands, the protesters declared on March 27 that they would stay on strike alert until they see concrete solutions to their grievances.