Health Ministry to lower salaries of contract neurologists

THE HEALTH Ministry has decided to lower the salaries of two child neurologists, who are set to be signed on contracts by the government, following an outcry from state doctors.

The Health Ministry had initially planned to bring in doctors from abroad on wages amounting to around £55,000, a figure which dwarfed those of local public sector doctors.

The result was an angry response from the doctors. DISY deputy Eleni Theocharous who described the contracts as “a provocation to doctors who for over 25 years have offered so much to the health sector.”

But yesterday Health Minister Charis Charalambous announced that an agreement had been reached after the contracts of the two doctors, Dr Paula Nicolaidou and Dr Stavros Hadjiloizou, were altered and the salaries lowered to around £38,000 for every 1,000 visits.

Both doctors work abroad
“The neurologists will work on a private level and will be accepting outpatients at their own offices or clinics. They will also be in a capacity to also visit hospitals,” said Charalambous, who spent most of Thursday night at his ministry with legal experts and doctors trying to establish a formula to satisfy both sides.

Commenting on the agreement, the Chairman of the Government Doctors’ Union (GDU) Dr Stavros Stavrou told reporters, “We don’t have any objects with regards to the figures. Some other issues, which are not a serious problem, also need to be resolved with regards to their working hours.”

Previously, Stavrou had asked “why others should receive £100,000 a year”, when he, who has been working in the public service for 28 years, received just £46,000.
The neurologists are expected to start operating in the summer.

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