Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2013, published 103rd ILC session (2014)

Nursing Personnel Convention, 1977 (No. 149) - Latvia (Ratification: 1993)

Article 2 of the Convention. National policy concerning nursing services and nursing personnel. The Committee notes the Government’s indications about the various austerity measures that have been adopted as a result of the global economic crisis, and which have inevitably affected the implementation of the Development of Human Resources in the Health-care Sector 2006–15 (Order of the Cabinet of Ministers No. 870 of 6 November 2006). The Government explains that facing a drop of 25 per cent in GDP and a rise of unemployment to 20.5 per cent, it had to drastically reduce the national budget expenditure, including the health-sector budget. As a result, the Ministry of Health was unable to either schedule any salary increase for the health-care workers or plan any future increases. A new model for the financing of the public health-care system through compulsory health insurance was developed, however, which aims to gradually increase the national health-care budget to 4.5 per cent of GDP. Further to the Government’s explanations, the Committee understands that in recent years several hospitals have been closed and the salaries of health professionals cut down by up to 30 per cent. It also understands that an unknown number of nurses and doctors have emigrated mostly to the United Kingdom, Germany and Sweden. The Committee requests the Government to continue to provide up-to-date information on any measures, programmes or initiatives undertaken with a view to improving the quality of nursing care, offering satisfactory working conditions to nursing personnel, remedying the current shortage of nurses and preventing health worker migration.