HealthMin Voiculescu: More than 43,000 health specialists requested papers to emigrate from 2007 to present

Over 43,000 health specialists have requested the Health Ministry, from 2007 to present, the necessary documents in order to emigrate, announced on Monday, Health Minister Vlad Voiculescu, at the Government House, on the occasion of the launch of the National Strategy for Human Resources in Healthcare.

"Romania has been facing, for several years, a severe crisis in human resources in healthcare and we know that the low level of income, the poor work conditions and the lack of equipment, the reduced possibilities for professional development are just some of the factors that have led in time to this crisis. As a result, over 43,000 specialists have requested the Health Ministry, from 2007 until today, the necessary documents to emigrate. Although not all of them have left, these figures are enough to make us worry," stated Voiculescu.

He added that hospitals are up against a major personnel deficit and whole localities do not have a family doctor, the average number of doctors and nurses in Romania being well below the European average.

"Notwithstanding, Romania trains every year thousands of graduates of health schools. A study carried out by World Health Organization, that I requested as soon as I came to the Health Ministry, shows us how much it costs to train a Romanian graduate of health studies. The sum amounts to 81,000 lei and it doesn't take into consideration residency, which also implies great sums," Voiculescu also said.

"The inability of the Romanian State to motivate graduates to exert their profession in Romania turns these expenditures into losses, unrecoverable losses and not an investment", the Health Minister further added quoted by Agepress.

He mentioned that at present, the minister he leads has elaborated a multiannual plan for the strategic development of human resources 2017-2020, which will provide strategic development in four large domains: governance, training, management and motivation.

According to Voiculescu, improving governance refers to consolidating the minister's capacity to manage the human resource, to adjusting the legislative framework but also to collaborating with local public authorities and implementing OMS policies. Adjusting the training of medical staff aims at "taking over approaches based on competencies and mix of abilities."

The strategy also undertakes to improve and simplify recruiting procedures of medical staff, to improve work environment of medical staff as well as to create and implement an efficient planning mechanism of the health human resource.