Young doctors and nurses stage second national protest

Young doctors and nurses from six towns are staging a second national protest this evening under the slogan "Future in Bulgaria," BNR’s Elena Beykova reports. They are demanding the introduction of a mechanism to control the payment of minimum wages for young doctors, nurses, midwives and other healthcare professionals.

• Young healthcare professionals and medical students organize protests in 6 towns

Medical professionals are demanding that the salary of resident doctors be increased to 3.5 times the minimum wage, and that the wages for health care specialists be set at 150% of the average salary across all hospitals. “We need a legal reform that absolutely guarantees this will be enforced, and if it isn’t, sanctions must be imposed,” said Desislava Petrova, a trainee doctor at the Medical University of Varna.

The protesters distanced themselves from the announcement by the PP-DB coalition to submit a proposal establishing minimum wages for medical workers and young doctors without specialties. They are awaiting a response to the open letter sent to parliamentary groups and the Ministers of Health, Finance, and Education.