Health Minister Sorina Pintea said in Bistrita on Monday that the number of requests made by doctors to work abroad has almost halved according to data centralised by the month of August, while the number of requests to return to Romania has increased. “There is some partial data, because we have requested an audit of the Court of Auditors in this area, and some statistical data have been processed by the month of August. Yes, the applications filed by doctors to work abroad in need of compliance certificates fell by about 45-50pct. But, there are many requests to return to Romania,” the minister said. Pintea spoke of the intention of the Health Ministry to held competitions for doctors’ positions at national level, so that there is a fair distribution throughout the country. “Unfortunately, the Ministry of Health cannot control the number of posts that hospitals bring to the competition (…) Practically, the regional division of doctors is somewhat unfair. University hubs and big cities are overcrowded, while small towns, the rural area is lacking in physicians. We will try to achieve a centralisation of posts so that we can organise these competitions nationwide, so we can spread the number equitably throughout the country,” Pintea explained. She gave as an example the situation of family physicians’ offices in the countryside, saying that about 700 of them are vacant. Asked if there is a guarantee that resident family physicians will go to rural areas to fill the vacancies, Pintea said that a solution to this should be found by 1 January 2019 so that those residents will serve Romania in the first place. “When we promoted this decision in the Government on Friday [increasing the enrollment figures for residential training], the minister of finance raised this issue. By January 1, we will think of a solution, so that those in whom Romania invests will serve Romania in the first place,” said Pintea.
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