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Support for all attempts to ensure decent remuneration and working conditions for medical specialists was stated by the Bulgarian Union of Medical Assistants and Paramedics (BULAF) with a letter to the media.

The EU has repeatedly called for a comprehensive reform of the health care system.

In this direction are our efforts to prepare a unified Strategy for the development of medical professions as a tool for achieving regulation and the desired change. We fully support the protests of the young medics and the Syndicate of the Bulgarian Medical Specialists by appealing to the regional structures of BSLAF, especially in the university cities, to take part in the implementation of the protests.

The protesting students and graduate students in medicine insist that the basic gross salary of young doctors and graduate doctors should be linked to the minimum wage and should be 3.4 times the MMS. Healthcare professionals demand an increase of 150% from the average work salary and decent working conditions.

On Tuesday, Podkrepa announced the demands of the protesters. The trade union stressed that one of the first mandatory steps in a positive direction is the conclusion of a new Sectoral Collective Agreement, which will create the necessary framework to ensure at least minimum standards, creating the basis for achieving a lasting improvement in working conditions and wages. The union said it was ready for strike action.

The Bulgarian Medical Association recognized the need for adequate remuneration, but noted that the current protest demands sound like a return to the model of centralized budget financing, in which remunerations are fixed and equal for all. But that would be a step backwards. Currently, the system is so built that wages vary in a wide range depending on the workload, specialty, hospital and the demand for the respective specialist. This flexibility is part of what has been achieved over the past 25 years and it should not be denied, but only upgraded.

The Industry Council for Tripartite Cooperation, chaired by the Minister of Health, has set up two working groups to propose concrete solutions by the end of June.

You can read the publication in OFFNews via the button below

OFFNews

The Management Board of BSLAF supports all attempts to ensure decent remuneration and working conditions for medical specialists, in particular for all our colleagues-medical assistants (feldshers). The Board of BSLAF maintains close contact with the trade unions and professional organizations of medical specialists on all matters concerning our profession.

BSLAF is not a trade union and does not have the functions of one, which is why it does not have the power to negotiate pay and working conditions, but it has always supported and will support trade unions and other structures that insist on decent wages and better working conditions for both medical assistants (feldchers) and other medical professionals.

The management of BULAF has repeatedly declared itself for a comprehensive reform of the healthcare system, which is the only way to effectively and permanently solve the problems in the sector.

In this direction are our efforts to prepare a unified Strategy for the development of medical professions as a tool for achieving regulation and the desired change.

We fully support the protests of the young medics and the Syndicate of the Bulgarian Medical Specialists by appealing to the regional structures of BSLAF, especially in the university cities, to take part in the implementation of the protests.

We assure you that BULAF will stand behind every working idea and action, which will contribute to a higher image, working conditions and well-being of healthcare professionals, leading to better quality healthcare in the Republic of Bulgaria.

You can read the publication in the Focus EA via the button below.

IA "Focus"

Medical assistants and paramedics support all attempts to ensure a decent remuneration of medical specialists, the Bulgarian Union of Medical Assistants and Paramedics announced. The organization maintains close contact with trade unions and professional organizations of health professionals on all matters affecting the profession.

The Bulgarian Union of Medical Assistants and Paramedics is not a trade union and does not have the power to negotiate pay and working conditions, but has always supported and will support trade unions and other structures that insist on decent wages and better working conditions for both medical assistants and paramedics and other medical specialists.

A comprehensive reform of the health care system is the only way to effectively and permanently solve the problems in the sector. In this direction are the efforts of the organization to prepare a unified Strategy for the development of medical professions as a tool for achieving regulation and the desired change, added the Union.

Full support for the protests of the young medics and the Syndicate of the Bulgarian Medical Association expressed in their position from the organization and called on their regional structures to participate in the protests.

In a protest a few days ago, young doctors and specialists insisted on raising their salaries, improving working conditions and transparency in specialization competitions. Support for the protest was expressed by the Podkrepa medical federation, the Syndicate of Bulgarian Medical Specialists, etc. The Ministry of Health also expressed support for the graduates, but pointed out that the wage-setting mechanisms are not directly under the control of the Ministry. The Bulgarian Medical Association announced yesterday that the Ministry of Health could increase direct subsidies for residents.

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BTA

You can read the publication in Slinica.bg via the button below:

Clinic.BG

You can read the publication in Clinica.bg via the button below:

Clinica.bg

TO THE PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF BULGARIA Mr RUMEN RADEV

TO THE PRESIDENT OF THE PEOPLE'S ASSEMBLY Ms NATALIA KISELOVA

TO THE PRESIDENT OF THE PARLIAMENTARY COMMISSION ON HEALTH DR. KOSTADIN ANGELOV

TO THE MINISTER-PRESIDENT MR ROSEN ZHELYAZKOV

TO THE MINISTER OF HEALTH DOC. SILVI KIRILOV

TO THE MINISTER OF EDUCATION AND SCIENCE Mr KRASIMIR VALCHEV

TO THE RETORS OF THE HIGH MEDICAL SCHOOLS

TO CITUB, CT SUPPORT AND NS PROTECTION

Dear Ladies and Gentlemen,

The Bulgarian Association of Healthcare Professionals, the Bulgarian Association of Assistant Pharmacists (BAPF) and the Bulgarian Union of Medical Assistants/Feldshers categorically distance ourselves from any attempts to embarrass and oppose the health care professions, because we believe that they cause irreparable harm to the interests of patients and their trust in the health system.

In our opinion, all those who have chosen the protection of human health as their professional career are equally responsible for respecting ethical standards and protecting the professional prestige and dignity of workers in the sector.

We take this position because we are provoked by deeply unethical suggestions about our professionalism, knowledge and skills and we call on the state institutions to start the long-awaited process of reforms aimed at achieving a balance of interests in the sector.

We hope that legislative changes in line with good European practices and medical standards will be launched in the near future.

We are categorical that this process should start immediately, because the negatives of imbalances in the system are obvious and increase with each passing day.

We expect real actions for an in-depth discussion with the participation of representatives of our professional organizations for making forward-looking and working decisions!

With respect:

Diana Georgieva - Chairman of BAPZG

Lilyana Petrova - Chairman of BAPF

Alexander Alexandrov - Chairman of BSLAF

You can read the news in the Bulgarian News Agency via the button below.

BTA

There are no clearly defined salaries and good working conditions for medical professionals. This opinion was expressed by the medical assistant and secretary general of the Bulgarian Union of Medical Assistants and paramedics Hristo Ivanov and the paramedic and deputy chairman of the Union Galina Zaharieva.

“From 8,500 paramedics, we have melted down to 2,000. Two thirds work in the Emergency Medical Centers," Zaharieva said. She explained that the production of such cadres was stopped in 1999, and then the training of paramedics was restored in 2014. However, Zaharieva believes that it would be very difficult to quickly recover the lost cadres, because their education takes four years, and those who want it are not many due to the lack of realization in the future.

Ivanov discovered the problem of pay. "We don't get enough pay for the work we do," he said. The expert said that he had to work in several places because of the shortage of staff.

There is no single strategy for health care. No one knows exactly how it will be realized after finishing and what forms of professional growth there will be. That is why colleagues are fleeing outside," says Galina Zaharieva. According to her, the shortage of medical personnel is global and about two million medical specialists are in demand in Europe alone.

You can watch the full participation of the Vice-President and the Secretary-General of UCLAF via the button below.

Nova News

The Rector of MU-Pleven Prof. Dr. Dobromir Dimitrov, in his capacity as Chairman of the Association of Medical Universities in Bulgaria, initiated on March 10 the first meeting-discussion to discuss the problems in the admission and education of students in the specialties in the field of Health Care. Emphasis was placed on the need to increase the prestige and attractiveness of the professions "Nurse", "Midwife", "Assistant Pharmacist", "Medical Assistant".

Alexander Alexandrov, Chairman of the Bulgarian Union of Medical Assistants and Paramedics (BULAF) and Galina Zaharieva, Deputy Chairman of BULAF, spoke about the problems and professional challenges in the field in Our Day.

Zaharieva states: "The shortage of staff is a global problem – it is not only in Bulgaria. In 2021, there was a deficit of about 2 million medical professionals in European health care. The lack of medical professionals outside the country is the reason many of ours leave and go there, as there are better working conditions.

According to the Deputy Chairman of BULAF, there are many problems in Bulgaria, some of which are related to education – insufficient investment in the training of specialists, constant change in curricula and educational programmes, the professional status of trainees, changes in the time for obtaining a degree.

Alexandrov points out that before the reforms, paramedics covered small settlements and remote areas well. The healthcare system was saturated with quality, qualified healthcare personnel in the face of paramedics. After 2000, when the new system came into operation, the offices of general practitioners were established to replace paramedics. According to the Bulgarian legislation, healthcare should be equal and on one level everywhere, so the rule has been introduced that people must be examined by doctors instead of paramedics (medical assistants). According to Alexandrov, the problem is that doctors prefer to stay in the city and so a large number of people do not receive medical care – a serious gap in healthcare.

Six universities currently train medical assistants. Unfortunately, there are few, but there is an interest in the profession. We already have talks with the Association of Rectors to increase the number and number of universities, because it turned out that in the central part of Northern Bulgaria there is no university to train such staff and their deficit in the medical institutions in this region is tangible. There remains the problem of the attractiveness of the profession in terms of subsequent realization", says Zaharieva.

Today, the paramedic is equated to a doctor's assistant. Legally, the paramedic enjoys the rights of a doctor's assistant, but the doctor's assistant does not have the rights yet. The paradox is due to regulatory turmoil, in Zaharieva’s words, which gives the example of the Ordinance on the establishment of death, according to which paramedics have the right to issue a report of death, but medical assistants do not, as they do not appear there.

European society is ageing, which leads to the need for long-term treatment of a number of patients, Zaharieva emphasizes. However, for doctors, this type of activity is not attractive – they are interested in the active phase of treatment. That is why in almost all areas of healthcare, medical assistants can be introduced to engage in routine medical practices and facilitate the work of doctors in hospitals.

Alexandrov adds that the lost connection between the general practitioner and the hospital can be made precisely by the medical assistants.

Currently, medical assistants are the main unit in the emergency medical centers and cannot be replaced by paramedics due to the specifics of the Bulgarian emergency system, Alexandrov believes.

"The medical assistant, going to one address in a sick person, performs a wide volume of medical activities that replace to some extent the activity of the general practitioner. This assistant can take the patient with an ambulance for treatment in a hospital, but can provide appropriate medical care on the spot, give medicine at home. In the West, the paramedic takes the patient to the ambulance and transports him to the hospital in any case," Aleksandrov said.

The full participation of Alexander Alexandrov and Galina Zaharieva can be heard on the sound file via the button below:

BNR

You can read the whole post in Clinic.bg via the button below.

Clinica.bg

A working group will propose changes in their training and work

At this stage, the duration of the training of nurses and midwives will not be reduced, an idea against which all interested professional organisations have expressed their opposition. The reason is that the line ministers did not support the proposal for 3+2 years of undergraduate training of nurses.

This became clear from the words of the President of the Association of Medical Universities in Bulgaria, Prof. Dobromir Dimitrov, Rector of the Medical University of Pleven, during a meeting he organised on the problems of health care professionals.

Prof. Dimitrov proposed to work towards updating the Unified State Requirements and updating the curricula of the health care specialties. In addition, Prof. Dobromir Dimitrov stressed that not enough is being done to introduce high technologies in the training of health professionals, as is the case for doctors - there is no training through virtual and augmented reality, as well as sufficient simulation training before entering clinical practice.

There are two major groups of problems related to health care professionals in Bulgaria. The first unites the problems in their training and the second - the problems related to their detention in Bulgaria. The participants in the meeting united around this conclusion.

It was attended by representatives of all interested professional organizations: The Bulgarian Association of Health Care Professionals (BAHCP), the Bulgarian Association of Assistant Pharmacists (BAPF), the Bulgarian Union of Medical Assistants and Paramedics (BSLAF). On the part of the medical universities, members of the management and faculties of public health participated in the meeting, as well as members of the academic staff of the departments that train students in the field of health care, the Medical University of Pleven informed.

The participants decided to set up a working group within one month, including representatives from each of the professional organisations present, as well as from the Bulgarian Medical Association, one representative from each specialty in the field of health care of higher education institutions, as well as from university and municipal hospitals as employers. Within two months, the working group will make proposals to the line ministries for changes in terms of both university training of health professionals and employers in the healthcare system.

At the meeting, it was also decided to develop a unified strategy for the development of the Health Care strand and, in terms of communication, to join efforts in a nationwide information campaign that would increase the interest of young people in the professions of health care professionals.

Respect on the part of society and colleagues, opportunities for professional and academic growth, defining a clear program for forming a starting salary and gradually increasing wages, maintaining a high quality of education, unifying the criteria for admission of students in the specialties of the Health Care Department in the higher education institutions that offer them. These are the key factors for the satisfaction of health care professionals, summarized during the meeting the Chairwoman of BAPZG Milka Vasileva.

The Chairwoman of BAPF, Lilyana Petrova, presented several problems related to the motivation and realization of the assistant pharmacists in Bulgaria, as well as the need for synchronization of the Bulgarian legislation with the European practices and international standards.

Alexander Alexandrov, Chairman of the Bulgarian Medical Association, presented the opportunities offered by the profession of medical assistant. These medical professionals diagnose, treat common diseases and can prescribe medications. It was recalled that even now a large part of the emergency workers are medical assistants and paramedics. According to BSLAF, with the more active integration of medical assistants in the healthcare system, many of the problems with the personnel crisis in outpatient care can be solved in the short term within a few years. In this regard, attention was drawn to the urgent need to increase the number of students in this specialty, especially in Northern Bulgaria. The representatives of BSLAF suggested that the profession of medical assistant should also be protected.

You can read the post on Zdrave.net via the button below.

Zdrave.net