The Slovenská komora sestier a pôrodných asistentiek is calling on Vláda SR and poslanci NR SR to use the 2022 state budget deliberations as the last chance to stabilize the number of nurses and midwives in Slovakia. We are appealing to the NR SR deputies on behalf of almost 40 000 nurses and midwives, as well as the citizens of this state and other healthcare workers who are not indifferent to the situation of healthcare funding in the Slovak Republic, so that they do not forget the sacrifice of nurses and midwives in these difficult times. We responded to your calls for help immediately, and we expect this from you now. Listen to our demands and help us save Slovak healthcare, which will not exist without us.
The proposed state budget in its current form is yet another signal for us that the current government is not interested in fair pay for our work. At the same time, dissatisfaction among healthcare workers is growing because there are too few of us, we are overworked, and we are underpaid. We fear that nurses and midwives, as well as other healthcare professionals, will continue to leave abroad, perhaps in even greater numbers than now, also because of weak financial remuneration. Our wages have long been 20 % below the average wage in the national economy; the work of nurses and midwives in Slovakia is undervalued, and compensation does not match the intensity of professional duties. We would like to remind you that the state budget is also closely linked to fulfilling the nurses' and midwives' demands for wage increases, which the government announced in its program statement. The SK SaPA proposal to increase nurses' and midwives' wages was submitted to the current Minister of Health this summer:
Time sequence: an increase of the basic wage component by 5 % every 5 years of professional experience, up to a maximum of 20 %.
The shortage of nurses and midwives threatens patient care and safety. Currently, the average number of nurses per 1 000 inhabitants in OECD countries is 8,7; in Slovakia we had 5,9 nurses per 1 000 inhabitants in 2014, today it is 5,4 nurses per 1 000 inhabitants. The average age of nurses is 54 years. We have reached a point where we are short nearly 15 000 nurses. From 1. 1. 2021 to 8. 12. 2021, we lost a further 931 nurses and midwives, and 778 nurses and midwives requested long-term interruption of professional practice. Since the start of the pandemic, we have lost 1 842 nurses and midwives.
For healthcare to function properly, we must invest in healthcare professionals. We must invest in training and employing greater numbers of healthcare professionals, so that every mother, child, student, parent, and grandparent has access to safe healthcare services. We must invest in fair wages and protection for workers in healthcare and care. We must invest in the healthcare workforce that will help the entire system recover even after the pandemic has faded.
It is regrettable that the government has not yet taken all necessary steps to improve the working conditions of nurses and midwives, who are the largest group of healthcare workers. When the state and society ask nurses and midwives for help, they respond immediately. When nurses and midwives ask for improved compensation, it is never the right time, there are no resources, and no will to solve it. It is no wonder we cannot keep healthcare workers in Slovakia if, after crossing just a few kilometres over our borders, they are treated with respect and dignity, where we are truly valued, and where the best working conditions are created with sufficient supplies, materials, and support. We call on Vláda SR and poslanci NR SR to, for the reasons stated above, not vote for the state budget proposal as presented by the government, but to adopt a budget that will create room for long-awaited fair pay for nurses and midwives, as well as other healthcare professionals. It is high time that, as representatives of citizens, they recognize the contribution of nurses and midwives, pay them adequate attention, and are not deaf and blind to their demands. This may be the last opportunity to reverse this situation.
Source: Slovenská komora sestier a pôrodných asistentiek Slovenská komora sestier a pôrodných asistentiek (SK SaPA) is a self-governing professional chamber with nationwide scope, based in Bratislava, bringing together 38 000 nurses and midwives. The main task of SK SaPA is to advocate for the professional, economic and social interests of chamber members in healthcare, social, educational and other institutions.