Health Minister Alexandru Rogobete said on Wednesday that there is currently no draft law at the Ministry of Health providing for a 10% cut in doctors' salaries.
"I have called for caution and balance, because the health system is already under pressure when it comes to human resources. Many doctors are taking on more on-call shifts than the regulations allow, simply because staff are unavailable. I do not believe this is an appropriate moment to introduce such cuts in the health sector. However, a reorganisation and a shift toward performance-based pay will bring benefits on both sides," the minister told a press conference at Victoria Palace of Government.
He noted instead that steps are being taken to restructure and streamline the health system, pointing to savings already made in connection with sick-leave payments.
"In just three months, 310 million lei have been saved through multiple inspections and by tightening the legislation on fictitious medical leave, on the one hand. On the other hand, the introduction of a large number of lower-cost biosimilar medicines will also generate significant savings," Rogobete said.
"An important reform project" will also be rolled out, he added, covering the reclassification of hospitals and a redesign of on-call payment tariffs, which will be divided into three categories: on-call from home, monitoring on-call, and emergency on-call. The staffing norms will also be revised so that they no longer depend solely on the number of beds.
"Performance-based pay can only be introduced after these major structural changes, which have not been made in 25 years. With the introduction of performance-based pay and differentiated tariffs according to the type of on-call shift, adjustments will appear in the overall wage bill of the Ministry of Health, but without a clear, fixed percentage reduction affecting all medical staff," he said.
Minister Rogobete also stressed that the health system will not be impacted by the ban on combining a pension with a salary. He thanked Labour Minister Florin Manole for "understanding the particularities" of the health sector.
"The ban on pension salary-cumulation applies only to non-contributory pensions. In the health sector, we are dealing with contributory pensions, so the system will not be affected by this legislative change," the minister underlined.
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