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Health: Physicians’ deficit is 40-42% in Romania
Vasile Astarastoae, the president of the Physicians’ College (CMR) declares that the shortage of physicians is 40-42% and there is a risk that Romania could have “ultramodern, ultra-performing sections which will become museums”.
“Now the deficit of physicians in Romania has reached 40-42%. In 1990 there were 57,000 physicians who worked in Romania. On July 1, 2014, there were 39,200 physicians included in the Physicians’ College. The major deficit is in hospitals. While in 2011 we had 24,000 physicians working in hospitals, now we have 14,600,” said Astarastoae.
He added that since 2008 over 15,000 physicians have left to work abroad, 1,200 of whom in the first months of 2014 represent 60% of foreign doctors working in France, while in Germany there are over 4,000 Romanian physicians,” the CMR president said.
He pointed out that there is a big deficit for certain specialties, for example ICU, where there are 586 but 1,610 are needed, while for radiotherapy there are only 38 specialists in the whole country. Asked what will happen if the physicians’ migrations continues he answered that in Romania we will have ultramodern sections posting as museums.”
“I see the point of view all political parties have. They consider that if they invest in hospitals they have solved the problem. We will have ultramodern sections which will be museums. Patients will come to visit them but there will not be anyone there to work,” Astarastoae added.
Asked why physicians leave Romania, he answered that the main causes are the physician’s stand in society and low salaries.“They are not offered anything here, except for miserable salaries and penal cases. The main cause is the physician’s position in society and his professional career and then comes the salary,” the president of the Physicians’ College said.
The National Council of the Physicians’ College in Romania met in Alba Iulia on Friday. Its members debated problems of the health system. According to CMR representatives, they talked about the shortage of physicians determined by their leaving the country, the insufficient financing of the health system and the confusing law which leaves room to interpretation.