In a significant development, Prime Minister Petr Fiala, representing the Civic Democratic Party (ODS), successfully brokered an agreement with dissatisfied Czech doctors. The breakthrough came after Fiala pledged CZK 9.8 billion from public health insurance for the upcoming year, earmarked for salary increases for doctors and healthcare personnel in hospitals. Following talks with representatives of doctors’ unions, Fiala affirmed that this commitment would be formalized in an amendment to the directive on financial healthcare coverage, extending its applicability to state, regional, municipal, and private hospitals.

Vice-President of the Czech Medical Chamber (CLK), Jan Prada, disclosed that doctors who had abstained from working overtime would consider terminating their protest once the prime minister’s offer was confirmed in writing. Fiala highlighted the mutual commitment to ongoing negotiations involving trade unions, CLK, hospitals, health insurance companies, and the Ministry of Health in the following week. The task at hand involves devising a technical mechanism for the allocation of the funds to salaries and determining the distribution structure.

Article by Prague Forum