Nurse Maya Ilieva tells FACT: We simply won't go to work on a certain day

The healthcare system has lost over 4 thousand nurses in recent years. To date, there are about 25 nurses per medical facility. What demands do they have… Maya Ilieva, chairman of the Union of Bulgarian Medical Specialists, speaks to FACT.

- Ms. Ilieva, you started a protest of medical specialists because you want to be heard. What has the state not heard for so many years?
- The state does not hear our problems or rather pretends not to hear them. If we are heard and things happen the way we want, there will be no protests. If we are heard, medical specialists will not have to work in two or three places and then there will be a crazy closure of hospitals, because one salary will be enough for us. And now, because the salary is not enough for us, a large part of our colleagues work in two or three places and thus cover the schedules in the hospitals, which are too many for our country, and we are already too few.

- How long can one person endure such a regime of work in two or three places?
- Things are individual here, but a large part of our colleagues have been working like this for years. Unfortunately, there are a large part of our colleagues who get sick, there are also those who lost their lives at work from overload. So, in the end, I don't know how long it will last.

- You are talking about effective actions. Will you stop work or how do you see it…
- We simply will not go to work on a certain day. Let them excommunicate us, let them fire us. It is simply that this is the only way we can clearly state our issues. It is clear that we have to cause inconvenience in order for our problems to be solved. This is clearly how things happen in the country. So far, we have always sought consensus in conversations, but we have listened to all sorts of promises. Yes, there are small steps in places, but, unfortunately, the problems remain and we have been dragging them on for years.

- We saw how the state gave 15 million for transport in Sofia. Do you expect the same and did that make you show more activity and protest…
- Yes, categorically. We saw how, when inconvenience is caused like this, the state solves the problems. That is why we are now challenging them. I expect that the Health Commission will discuss our problems and find specific solutions. We remember that during Covid, a way was found to stimulate workers with additional funds to their salaries. So I think that with good will, this can happen in the same way, so that we can already get to the next budget, in which everything will be provided for.

- How are the salaries of medical specialists moving and what are you aiming for?
- The basic salaries are moving between 1200 and 1800 leva. We are aiming for 150% of the average salary for the country in the public sector, because this will already be a good starting salary for specialists.

- What does this mean in money?
- 3077 leva. We have made our calculations that the average salary changes, but we want to be bound in this way, so that we are guaranteed a change every year.

- The health budget increases like money every year, and there are always dissatisfied people. Why is this happening?
- Because the budget is not distributed correctly and goes to precisely defined “pockets“ of hospitals on some very highly paid clinical paths, while there is nothing for the rest of the system. Therefore, there must be categorical legislative changes and, of course, a desire on the part of politicians to make them. As you know, this is a well-organized business in Bulgaria - healthcare. This is also the reason why I believe that our problems remain unresolved.

- Why is there no interest among young people to become medical specialists. Where does the thread break…
- The thread is already breaking when this low salary is formed, because no one is going to waste 4 or 6 years of their life training to become a medical specialist or doctor, only to receive a salary of "handouts". We have already seen posters of young doctors that read: "You hold us back with morality, you pay us with handouts". There are simply no prospects for young people, there are no good working conditions. This is the reason why young people today do not want to turn to these professions. A medical specialist is a dying profession if specific measures are not taken. The closure of individual departments and hospitals has already begun, because there are no nurses, midwives, etc. You know that there are such closed health facilities all over the country. Drastic measures are simply needed so that these professions can become more attractive and thus awaken the desire of young people to practice them and stay in Bulgaria. This profession is disappearing and even personnel with education and experience are being retrained. Currently, there are 23,000 employees, and the Bulgarian healthcare system needs another 30,000. 95% of specialists work in more than one place. The healthcare system has lost over 30,000 nurses, 4,000 in the last few years alone.