Who was lamenting that doctors in Latvia earn little? Let’s comfort these people: our doctors earn so well that a salary of 7000 euros a month does not entice them. As a result, Jekabpils has been without traumatologists for several months, writes the Grani portal.
The astonishing job vacancies at the Jekabpils hospital were reported by the Panorāma program of Latvian television. It so happened that this hospital was left without two traumatologists (who were previously suspended due to medical errors). Meanwhile, the hospital has a trauma department that now has no one to work in it and no one to lead it.
The local government is ready to offer a municipal apartment and a salary of 7000 euros (before taxes) to whoever comes to take the position of head of the trauma department. A traumatologist is offered a salary of 6000 euros. It seems like excellent conditions! But — no, there are no takers.
"We are a very large region. Plavinas, Livani. People suffer in accidents. Now it’s spring, summer is approaching, where to find help? Daugavpils? Rezekne? Life [in the department] has come to a standstill. There are wide opportunities here, a good operating room," said nurse Ilze Spalvinja bitterly on the LTV Panorāma program.
Currently, those who suffer serious injuries in Jekabpils only receive initial emergency care. Further, if these patients require hospital treatment or surgery, they are taken to Daugavpils, Madona, or Riga.
The Jekabpils hospital is at a loss — what to do? It is impossible to close the trauma department: the city is relatively close to the state border, a major highway runs through it, and a military training ground "Selija" is nearby. Thus, the hospital is a strategically important facility, and the trauma department within it is doubly strategically important. But they do not understand where to find doctors.
For the average Latvian, this story is a real revelation. It turns out that all the cries of our doctors about insufficient salaries are lies. Doctors in Latvia earn excellent salaries that representatives of other professions can only dream of. Just consider the phrase that the Jekabpils hospital "agrees that in Riga doctors can earn more by working in several institutions at once, for example, in the private sector."
More than 7000 euros a month? Seriously?
Although — these figures logically stem from the price list of medical services, where prices are rising not by the day, but by the hour. It seems that not long ago, one could see a specialist for 50-55 euros, but now you won't even get in without 80-90 euros. State quotas are melting away like last year's snow; you might as well say they don't exist at all. Meanwhile, paid services are skyrocketing as if not only oil tankers but also ships with doctors have been blocked in the Strait of Hormuz.
In general, this story about job vacancies at the Jekabpils hospital has become a true revelation for Latvians. It would have been better if these figures had not been mentioned…
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