EMERGENCY DOCTORS IN SOFIA RESIGN EN MASSE

A large number of doctors from the Emergency Medical Services in Sofia submitted resignations on 29th May and held a protest in front of the Ministry of Health building. The reason which led to the indignation was the government’s attempt to dismiss the Head of the Emergency Medical Services in Sofia, dr Georgi Gelev and his deputy, dr Angleov.

The request for the dismissal came after a 40 year old lady from ‘Nadezhda’ residential area in Sofia died on 26th May while waiting for an emergency ambulance. Allegedly, it took more than 50 minutes for the ambulance to arrive.

Findings of audits undertaken by the Ministry of Health in relation to the case with the ambulance delay included insufficient staff, poor organization, lack of control, continuous poor coordination between the emergency phone number 112 and the emergency centers.

Deputy Minister of Health, Dr Penkov, said that the main reasons for the proposed dismissals were poor organization and lack of control over the emergency teams.

The protest included not only doctors, but emergency medical workers as well. They have put demands for better working conditions and increased salaries. So far, no representative of the Ministry of Health has spoken with the protesting workers.

On 29th May, Dr Gelev said that the state had to take steps to improve the quality of the work of the emergency services. He remarked that the working conditions in the area of emergency services were more difficult and stressful in comparison with hospitals and therefore the staff needed adequate remuneration and suggested a salary of minimum 1 500 BGN per month. Dr Gelev said he would not resign and dismissed the accusations of poor organization and insufficient control in the Emergency Medial services.

Desislava Katalieva, the chairperson of the Association of Emergency Services Workers said that all emergency employees in Bulgaria supported the demands of their colleagues in Sofia, because the problems in this area were the same across the whole country.

The emergency medics from the second largest Bulgarian city of Plovdiv, are fully supportive of their colleagues in Sofia and across the country. The Head of the Emergency Medical Services unit in Plovdiv, Dr Ivan Stoinov, stated that the problems in Plovdiv emergency services were the same: insufficient staff resulting in reduced number of emergency teams. In his opinion, a decision needs to be made regarding the specialists providing the emergency medical services – whether they will be doctors or paramedics. The work of the emergency unit in Plovdiv is expected to deteriorate because the modern emergency ward in the nearest town of Assenovgrad will be closed down. This will result in 5 000 more patients relying on the emergency help in Plovdiv.

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