It has already been reported that in March, the government supported a 20% bonus for physicians directly involved in dealing with the effects of Covid-19 and working in emergency situations. The Ministry of Health predicted that hospitals would be able to pay bonuses to their employees on a monthly basis together with their salaries. Consequently, the first premiums for March should have been in early April. However, after three months of promises, state funding from contingencies has not been allocated to any of the municipal emergency hospitals, according to the information compiled by the Latvian Hospital Association.
Unfulfilled promises critically affect employee motivation
Jevgēņijs Kalējs, the head of the Latvian Hospital Association, points out: The information compiled by the Latvian Hospital Association shows that 53% of hospitals have taken the risk and paid the funding not received from the government from their own funds. However, 47% of hospital staff still expect bonuses for their work. It goes without saying that after all the promises that have been made, every doctor and any employee who was involved in the organization of work and the fight against Covid-19 is still hoping for some kind of award.
Emphasizing the preparation for a possible second wave of Covid-19 disease should also emphasize that unfulfilled promises have a critical impact on employee motivation.
The state expects doctors to act selflessly in the conditions of the spread of a dangerous infection, but does not fulfill the promised and even the wage reform included in the law, as well as does not pay bonuses for doctors. Instead, the National Health Service (NSS) is currently conducting checks on the validity of the workload of reports submitted to hospitals.
To date, none of the hospitals has been reimbursed for the purchase of personal protective equipment. We had previously informed that the state could not provide them centrally, so hospitals were forced to look for ways to secure the purchase on their own. The hospital’s NSAs provided detailed reports on purchases, indicating the actual consumption of personal protective equipment and the expenditure to be covered by the contingency. ”
It is not clear how much of the investment by hospitals will be reimbursed
“We plan to pay compensation to hospital staff only when it is known that additional funding will be provided to us from the total funds for contingencies. During this time, we have already invested a great deal of our own resources in ensuring the continuous operation of the hospital and in complying with all the guidelines laid down in the event of a pandemic. It is still unknown which part of them will actually be recovered and what part of them will remain for the payment of premiums, “reveals Grigory Semyonov, a member of the board of Daugavpils Regional Hospital.
He also acknowledges that the methodology for calculating premiums does not include the “invisible” work of both hospital medical staff and other staff involved in all kinds of internal reorganisations, unit and departmental relocations, redirection and distribution of patient flows. It helped to ensure, for example, the processes of treatment, differentiation, isolation and sorting, and everything that remains invisible and not reflected in the separate timesheets cannot therefore be classified according to methodological criteria. “
“Hospital staff have a negative feeling about the current situation, because people are once again disappointed with the government’s promises. It has been observed that some staff show distrust of the hospital board, believing that additional funding for hospitals has already been received and distributed, but has not reached the staff. It is also cultivated by the fact that the promises made in the mass media differ from the real situation. Unfortunately, in the current situation, Daugavpils Regional Hospital cannot afford to pay surcharges to doctors, waiting for the promised funds, the amount of which is as unclear as the moment of granting compensations, ”comments Semjonovs.
About “Latvian Hospital Association”
“Latvian Hospital Association” is a voluntary employers’ organization – an association that unites 37 Latvian hospitals and medical institutions. The main goal of the association is to improve the planning and management of health care in hospitals, as well as the health care of the Latvian population.
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