Nurse Labours: Cislak's Criminal Complaint Hardly a Surprise
Bratislava, February 1 (TASR) – The criminal complaint filed by Health Minister Viliam Cislak comes hardly as a surprise to nurses on strike, nurse labour unions head Monika Kavecka said on Monday.
Regardless, the nurses won’t be intimidated into falling silent about the situation prevailing in health care, said nurse chamber president Iveta Lazorova. “We’ll be giving the people the true story of how the health care is being provided,” Lazorova said at a press briefing.
Kavecka believes that the crisis surrounding the mass resignations of nurses should be addressed at an extraordinary Parliamentary session. Seeing as demands of nurses have been neglected long-term, Kavecka calls upon all politicians to start dealing with the situation and not perceive it only as an opportunity for politicking. It is Health Minister Viliam Cislak, who has failed to hold talks with nurses since their filing of mass resignations, as well as Prime Minister Robert Fico who bear joint responsibility, thinks Kavecka.
“The arrogance of power, which we have faced in recent days and weeks, only works to strengthen our conviction that our choice was right. It’s necessary to expose the dysfunctional nature of the system. We’re convinced now more than ever that the solution we’ve embraced is the only way to go,” said Lazorova.
Tackling the “crisis” state seen in faculty hospitals in Presov, Zilina and Trnava by relocating nurses from other facilities is the Health Ministry’s approach, according to the nurses. “Thus, the minister is turning the local problem into a nationwide one,” said Kavecka. She raises the question whether it wouldn’t be better to cut a deal rather than patch potholes in the system.
The nurse unionists warn that new nurse hires set to replace the nurses on strike are not adequate replacements, as, for instance, the majority of new nurses at Presov hospital don’t have valid registration. “It’s a violation of the law,” added Lazorova, who would like to inquire whether the nurses in question even have the necessary specialisations.
