Éger told Magyar Nemzet that the chamber received several complaints last autumn about doctors having to perform tasks for which they are not qualified, and about a serious shortage of doctors and nurses.

An assessment by the chamber of the staff situation found that emergency wards of at least 34 hospitals were functioning amid unsatisfactory and therefore irregular circumstances, he said.

Balog is asked in the letter to reduce the heavy burden on doctors.

Tamás Berényi, president of the Hungarian Emergency Medical Society, questioned the evaluation, saying some doctors did not want to take part in the survey and do not trust the chamber.

He said the shortage of doctors is an acute problem but there are even fewer ambulance doctors.

Éger said the chamber’s data is reliable as 48 out of the 103 hospitals answered their questions, therefore statistically they have representative results.

The ministry told Index that it has not received any signals from hospitals regarding the problem raised by the chamber.

Source: Hungary Around the Clock

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