Will Lithuania be hit by a tragic shortage of doctors? Presented telling numbers

Lithuanian healthcare institutions are already short of nurses, family doctors, cardiologists, neurologists, and internal medicine doctors.

“We can see that if measures are not taken, that shortage can increase significantly,” Diana Smaliukaitė, head of the Health System Human Resources Policy Department of the Ministry of Health (SAM), said in the “Question of the Day” program of “Žiniai Radio”.

According to the current trajectory, the Center for Strategic Analysis of the Government (STRATA) predicts that in 2032 Lithuania will lack 4,643 general practice nurses, 2,355 nursing assistants, 1,328 advanced practice nurses, 543 dental assistants, 269 family doctors, 207 internal medicine doctors, 146 pediatricians disease doctors, 134 emergency medicine doctors.

Will it be possible to disprove the predictions? There is no shortage of people who want to study medicine in Lithuania, but there could be more people choosing the nursing profession.

“We have the potential to increase the number of places financed by the state, but we don’t have people who want to come to study,” D. Smaliukaitė said about the nursing situation.

Lithuania is interested in nurses from India

Could foreigners fill medical staffing gaps?

“This is a debatable issue. I know, Lithuania is an open country in the world. Sometimes a nurse even writes from India and asks how to get a job in Lithuania (…) Emigrants will definitely come to Lithuania”, said Aušra Volodkaitė, President of the Association of Lithuanian Nursing Specialists.

“But nursing is a profession regulated by European Union directives. Newcomers have to go through the procedure of recognition of professional qualifications, learn the language, acquire a license to practice nursing, and then all doors are open.

I know institutions that employed Ukrainian war refugees as nursing assistants. The institution finances Lithuanian language courses, possibly other trainings, so that they can get a job as nurses”, said A. Volodkaitė.

D. Smaliukaitė explained that SAM is planning to create a model for actively attracting foreign doctors to Lithuania.

However, attention is also paid to the return of Lithuanians who have left to our country, or to the attraction of those who refused medical bread back into the system.

“We will work with foreigners, with Lithuanians who have left, and with specialists who are no longer active,” claimed D. Smaliukaitė.

According to her, it is expected that the arrivals will receive financial support not only to learn the Lithuanian language, but also to settle in Lithuania.

Is the salary enough?

According to experts, there is more than one reason for the shortage of doctors.

“Of course, the nursing profession is not the most popular choice. First of all, it is both physically and emotionally hard work. Not only do you have to see a sick person, but you also have to hear his emotions and problems. We also have to deal with such unpleasant things as the fact of death,” said Aušra Volodkaitė, president of the Association of Lithuanian Nursing Specialists.

She singled out the financial factor as well. There are nurses who do not earn 1000 euros “in their hands”.

According to A. Volodkaitė, the problem is that as the number of employees decreases, the workload of the doctors in the system increases. For example, a nurse leaves the institution, but a new person is not hired, and his work is redistributed to others.

“Sometimes the nurses themselves are inclined to work more than one full-time just for financial benefits. It is not always enough to survive and provide for one’s family”, observed A. Volodkaitė.

Will reveal the behind-the-scenes of medicine

D. Smaliukaitė explained that nursing studies are not attractive to young people, so it is not possible to attract new specialists to the system.

However, the SAM representative noted that the salary situation is changing for the better.

“We want to be happy that wages are increasing year by year. There is a clear positive push and we want to communicate that positive message”, emphasized D. Smaliukaitė.

According to her, it is planned to pay for nursing and medical studies for those who have already used up the free study place. Scholarships and salary supplements are also provided for resident doctors who work in the regions.

SAM, in order to ensure a sufficient number of health care specialists, prepared an action plan for their attraction and retention, for which more than 30 million PLN is planned to be allocated until 2029. euros.

It is also intended to improve the image of the nursing profession and raise its prestige.

“It is very important to work with schoolchildren. We are planning to have healthcare professionals from that particular region come to the schools. In the same way, schoolchildren can be invited to health care institutions.

We understand that we have to keep people who come from that region as close as possible, because it is much more likely that a person who has gone to study will return to his hometown if he has a connection with a health care institution,” said D. Smaliukaitė.

According to her, it is not considered that doctors who have completed their studies with state funds would be obliged to “work” in the regions. True, there is a model where a specialist undertakes to work for 2 years in a medical institution that covered the cost of his studies.

“We understand that 2 years is just a ‘warm-up’. If the specialist likes it there, our wish is for him to continue working in that institution,” said D. Smaliukaitė.