The president of the Association of Doctors and Dentists (AMMD) described the current situation in the health sector in conversation with RTL Luxembourg.
2.35 doctors per 1,000 inhabitants is a very low ratio by international comparison, said Dr Alain Schmit, president of the AMMD, on Thursday morning during an appearance on RTL radio. He added that there was a distinct "older age structure" among doctors, and there were not sufficient people to cover the required positions in Luxembourg's hospitals, while young doctors have also expressed dissatisfaction with the national health policy.
Around 250 healthcare professionals gathered on Wednesday for the AMMD's general assembly meeting.
Schmit said that the speakers at the recent health round table had not succeeded in discussing "an intelligent network of medical care", and that the AMMD's ideas had not been taken into consideration. "Over the past two decades, there has been a lack of focus on primary care, i.e. general practitioners and dentists. This has resulted in an increased demand for hospital care, thus increasing the volume of work."
In addition, hospital doctors have not been given the opportunity to develop further, which has hampered the offer of additional services. As a result, Dr Schmit said it was vital to strengthen the primary medicine services available, and split secondary medicine into two pillars - one being medicine managed by specialists themselves, and the second being hospital care who those who are seriously ill, thus improving the "network".
On-call duty and pay: the Ministry of Health reacts
The AMMD and the Ministry of Health lack an agreement on the remuneration for on-call, out-of-hours duty for doctors. The Ministry currently offers €22/hour during the week and €40/hour at weekends, while doctors have campaigned for a flat rate of €40/hour throughout the week. Dr Schmit specified that doctors on-call must always be reachable, but not necessarily on site.
On Thursday morning, the Ministry of Health contradicted the AMMD in a press release stating their latest proposal for on-call duty would be €40/hour. In addition, doctors required on site during on-call duty would be eligible to receive €96/hour, as a complementary compensation alongside their usual consultation fees.
The AMMD now proposes to meet with patients and explain the ongoing issues. Dr Schmit said if they were not able to speak to politicians, they had to speak with patients. He dismissed questions of a possible strike, saying "there is already a latent strike, an unwanted strike, because there are not enough doctors."
Luxembourg hospital federation "lagging behind politics"
The president of the Federation of Luxembourg Hospitals (FHL), Dr Philippe Turk, has previously accused the AMMD of polemicizing. Dr Schmit replied there was a difference between controversy and genuine criticism, and added that the FHL appeared unwilling to acknowledge the issue and join discussions. He said the federation was "lagging" behind politics and he could therefore not expect a full criticism from the FHL, as hospital managements were so dependent on political leaders.
