‘The average twenty per cent salary increase for healthcare professionals affects nearly 94,000 individuals,’ stated the State Secretary responsible for healthcare at the Ministry of Interior on Monday morning’s programme on M1.
Peter Takács revealed that the salary increase applies to approximately 84,000 healthcare specialists working in outpatient clinics and hospitals, as well as around ten thousand professionals working in primary healthcare, including general practitioners, paediatricians, and dentists. The State Secretary explained that they simplified the previous—often convoluted—salary system by implementing an average twenty per cent raise on base salaries, incorporating various supplements into it. ‘The claim made by left-wing representatives that the government only added supplemental wages to base income is untrue,’ the State Secretary emphasized.
He articulated that with the restructuring of the salary system, employees benefit twice as much because the increased base pay determines the so-called variable pay, meaning the on-call fees and shift supplements also increase proportionally. Takács added that the salary table has also been simplified. They introduced five pay grades, within which they established base and distinguished categories. These were determined jointly with the professional chamber and trade unions to include professions that entail extreme workload in the distinguished category, citing chronic internal medicine as one of the most demanding areas.
‘The salary of healthcare specialists has increased nearly fourfold compared to 2010,’
stressed the politician. He explained that while nurses with secondary education earned 170,900 forints in 2010, after the current salary increase, their wages exceed 800,000 forints. ‘For nurses with a college degree, the salary was 220,000 forints in 2010, and now it approaches one million forints,’ he added.
‘After the salary increase, Hungary is approaching the medical and healthcare professional salary ratio of the most developed OECD countries,’ said Peter Takács, adding that the base salary of healthcare specialists now reaches 37 per cent of doctor salaries. He reminded that the government initially raised doctors’ salaries, and feedback indicates that the vast majority of doctors are satisfied with their income.
On public Kossuth Radio, the State Secretary also mentioned that healthcare workers work an average of 200 hours per month under significant pressure, and the government strives to financially acknowledge their efforts. ‘The salary increase must be implemented in a way that is palpable to everyone,’ he added, noting that he has drawn the attention of all hospital directors to this principle.
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Sources: Hungarian Conservative/M1/Kossuth Radio/MTI
