The Government on Monday approved a stabilisation bonus for health-care staff amounting to €5,000. The measure will swallow €200 million from the state budget. Medical workers must commit to working in a hospital or emergency medical service for three years in order to receive the bonus. The bonuses will be paid to eligible health-care workers by December 31 at the latest. However, the stabilisation allowance doesn't apply to nurses working in outpatient departments, for home nursing care agencies (ADOS) or school facilities, said the Slovak Chamber of Nurses and Midwives (SKSaPA) on Monday, adding that nurses could leave the given areas. "We're drawing attention to the fact that the stabilisation bonus doesn't apply to another 7,000 nurses who work in outpatient clinics, ADOS or in school facilities. We've repeatedly pointed out that nurses will leave these areas, which will cause major problems for the outpatient sector," the chamber posted on a social network. The Ambulatory Providers Association pointed out that the stabilization allowance does not apply to nearly 70 percent of health care providers. They are also asking the government to stop creating an imbalance among health care providers and to address the critical situation in the ambulatory sector without delay. The Association of Ambulatory Providers has expressed concern and alarm over the approval of the stabilization allowance. Moreover, former head of the parliamentary health-care committee and MP for Freedom and Solidarity Jana Bitto Ciganikova has criticised the fact that the stabilisation bonus isn't linked to a specific benefit for patients and that its payment is not in the hands of hospital bosses. According to her, hospital managers would perhaps be better able to assess for whom they need the contribution. She considers it to be reprehensible to waste hundreds of millions of euros without linking the money to an increase in the quality of provided health care and to strengthening the capacity of medical facilities.
Source: TASR
