Patient Association: Negligible Doctor Strike

The Association for Patients' Rights has rejected the doctors' strike, and have demanded that this strike cease as soon as possible.

According to them, problems in Kosovo health choose growth of the budget.

Association for Patients' Rights Director Besim Kodra, considering the health system indispensable, said there is an over-financed under the sector.

The hill has considered the White House strike unrecognizable, and their demand for salary increases. He has even added that medical institutions that have entered the strike are not licensed at all.

In this situation we have a demand for salary increases, we think this is a more unconventional way of showing demand especially an intellectual layer like doctors. They must seek improved working conditions, worry about the state of health of patients, seek reforms in the health system that enable the introduction of market mechanisms and the show-up of their professional values. They also need to seek to improve their performance and measure performance. Strangely enough, surgeons, even though they do not distinguish with pay from their colleagues, do they really differ greatly from the living standard”, has stated Kodra.

According to Kodra, all post-war governments in Kosovo have failed to bring reform to the health system, and besides low financing this sector is facing even worse management.

He has considered that it is not the right time for this strike, so he has demanded that it cease as soon as possible.

Director The PRAK has also considered the strike's manner and, according to him, emergency services should be provided, for if that does not happen, doctors commit criminal offenses.

All our pressure is to concentrate on raising the health budget, without raising the health budget, we can have neither quality of health services nor higher salaries for medical staff, nothing else. So this is our request as a patient association... 1-44 I think the most arbitrary way to harm patients has been chosen. I know they have the strongest weapon to organize the strike and not give me health services for patients, but we consider this to be the last point where we can't dialogue on “, added a

And the member of this association, Lumbardh Bytyqi, has said that better planning and increased demands for better services, not just wages.

According to him, Kosovo institutions should implement major reform in the health system as soon as possible.

He has advised that we change the method of paying for white robes, saying patients' salaries should be counted on the tasks and responsibilities and jobs they do.

We shouldn't allow the patient to have services no matter what strike is especially emergency... It would have been better for us to protest with the union and find a better shape by not putting the patient at risk for not giving their medical services... So the union should also focus on these problems where GDP in the future in general will have increased in health, where this would have made pay hikes, but also increased services, but also increased investments that would have been made in medicine. We consider the fact that it's too little to ask just salary hikes, it's a lack of other things”, Bytyqi said.

Otherwise, on December 26th, all doctors in the public health system have held 48 hours strike, demanding wage increases and collective contract implementation. Those on 3 January have warned they will hold timeless strikes