A strike by healthcare workers organised by the Zajedno ("Together") trade union began on Monday. According to the union, participation is excellent, with 4,000 healthcare workers on strike in 58 healthcare facilities.

Health Minister Vili Beros has commented on the strike.

“We held a video conference with the directors of the hospitals on Sunday evening. Our task is to ensure healthcare so that as few patients as possible – ideally none – are left without examinations or diagnostic tests. It was explicitly emphasised that no unlawful pressure should be exerted on the strikers. On the other hand, we have clearly defined who can assess the patient’s condition, whether it is a situation that could lead to complications or one that does not require active treatment. In the healthcare system, only healthcare professionals can make such judgements. If this is a point of contention, I will side with the directors and doctors,” said the minister.

“This is not the right way to strike; there are rules for a strike”

The minister pointed out that the directors had warned him about the unrest at the entrances to the hospitals: “Patients are being turned away and examinations are being postponed. This is not the right way to strike; there are rules for a strike. I call on all those taking part in the strike to do so in accordance with the law”

Beros emphasised that the strike is taking place at a time when the government has taken a “historic step” by increasing salaries in the healthcare sector: “The total cost of increasing salaries for healthcare workers has risen from the planned 270 million euros to 528 million euros.”

“It saddens me that some refuse to engage in dialogue, that some resort to blackmail, and the strike is the best indicator of their activities, but they refuse to resolve problems and outstanding issues within the institutional framework. There are issues that need to be resolved, but the law prescribes a legal remedy. All these inconsistencies could have been raised in the Council and would have been resolved around the table. Once again, I am calling for dialogue, not blackmail. We will solve the problems – it may take one and a half, two and a half or four months, but they will be solved,” the minister added.

“Do they want dialogue?”

Beros explained that the government has set up a negotiating committee for collective bargaining: “These people are ready for dialogue, but after the strike I have to ask: do they want dialogue? If so, then they could have come on Thursday to articulate the problems. The biggest concern remains securing healthcare. I believe that we will succeed in organising ourselves, because we have done so under more complicated conditions. According to the directors of all facilities, I have been informed that less than 600 people are on strike and 14 health facilities are operating without interruption.”

“What worries me most is that certain qualifications in the healthcare sector may have exacerbated this problem and this strike. We need to address this problem systematically. It is neither normal nor logical that there are more Masters graduates in nursing in Croatia than in the whole of the UK. Of course they are needed and we have already spoken to Minister Radovan Fuchs about planning training needs. We are training staff we do not need and not those we do,” he emphasised.

Beros explained that healthcare staffing needs must be planned on the basis of actual need: “One of the elements, perhaps the biggest, behind this strike is this issue.”

The minister reiterated that the ministry was open to dialogue, but not through blackmail.

“We are still inviting them to talks”

Beros emphasised once again that salaries in the healthcare sector have increased for everyone.

“I am not saying there are no mistakes, but let us talk about it. Another demand is an increase in the basic salary and meal allowances. Negotiations are starting; we have a negotiating team and the first meeting for the sectoral collective bargaining is on Thursday – that’s the place for the discussion. We will continue to invite them,” said Beros.

The minister believes that the discussion on screening as presented at the conference on Monday is not ironic given the current circumstances as, according to his information, there have been almost no cancellations of diagnoses.

He also emphasised that he will review the reports of cancellations of Monday’s appointments, although he is confident that no one in life-threatening situations was turned away and that they were probably routine screenings: “This is not the way to go.”

Union: No one who needs medical care will be denied it

The Zajedno healthcare workers union said in front of the Zagreb’s Hospital for Tumours on Monday that no one in need of medical assistance would be denied it due to the current strike. The number of strikers in the individual departments of the hospital varies, with almost all radiology staff on strike.

“I want to reassure all our patients that anyone who need medical attention will be taken care of. They will be cared for in the best way possible. Anything that can be delayed and does not endanger the lives of our patients or their upcoming examinations will also be delayed and done in the shortest possible time,” Ivanka Herman, senior radiology technician at the University Tumour Clinic and member of the Zajedno union, told reporters.

She said that patients whose examinations are delayed are not put on waiting lists again, but that they are contacted in good time and do not have to think about going to private clinics. This applies to both the University Hospital for Tumours as well as for other medical facilities across the country, Herman said.