As Radio Prague reports, low wages in this healthcare sector have led to Czech nurses preferring to work in neighboring countries – Austria and Germany, where their work is paid significantly higher. The Czech Ministry of Health has already turned to Minister of Foreign Affairs Lubomir Zaoralek for help in selecting countries from which personnel can be attracted.
However, Czech medical professionals are not sure they will find a sufficient number of willing people in these countries. A solution could be labor resources from Ukraine. 'At present, this is the only possible step, the only place we can turn to,' says Miroslav Ludvik, director of the Motol University Hospital in Prague.
However, Ukrainian women will have to take a qualification exam in Czech. 'Probably we will not be able to hire them immediately as nurses, and at first they will do auxiliary work while improving their language skills,' suggests Miroslav Ludvik. He expects that, given the current situation, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic will include medical personnel from Ukraine in the list of professions that are in acute demand in the country.
The ministry has already approved relaxed entry rules for 500 highly qualified Ukrainian citizens and is now considering the possibility of expanding the list to include lower-skilled specialists. 'We are aware of the problem of the shortage of nurses and do not exclude that they will be included in the project,' said Michaela Lagronova, spokeswoman for the Czech Foreign Ministry.