Poor Doctors

Doctors launched a nationwide open-ended strike Monday, demanding a pay raise amid complaints that the Polish health system is underfunded and medical professionals are overworked.

More than 200 of the nation's roughly 600 state hospitals were providing only emergency services according to the All-Poland Doctors' Union. Another 100 hospitals were set to join the strike if a settlement was not reached quickly, he said.


Doctors are seeking a more than 100 percent increase to their monthly salaries, currently at about $460 for general doctors and $1,080 for specialists.

Prime Minister Jaroslaw Kaczynski said the doctors' demands were unrealistic this year, adding that such a pay increase would cost an estimated $3.9 billion and would "break public finances." He said health care wages should increase starting next year.

The doctors have suggested charging patients nominal fees for some services to help fund changes to the health system. Basic health care in Poland is free.

Low wages have forced doctors to take additional jobs in private clinics, and thousands of doctors and nurses have moved abroad for better-paid jobs, primarily to Britain and Ireland, since Poland joined the European Union in 2004.

The lack of funds has plagued Poland's state health care system and provoked strikes and street protests since the collapse of Communism in 1989.