Romania's hospitals left on life support
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Thanks to open EU borders and the current financial crisis, Romania's health service is haemorrhaging medical staff at an alarming rate. As foreign recruiters flock in to tempt doctors abroad, fears are growing that the condition could be life-threatening.
Vasile Astarastoae, the head of the Romanian Medical Council, sounded the alarm last month saying the country needed to declare a "state of emergency" over the exodus of medical staff. Over 10% of Romania's doctors have left in the last three years and the number is growing, he warned.
Over the last few months, the Romanian media has been full of reports of hospitals that have effectively run out of money, with many forced to cancel all but the most urgent operations due to a lack of basic equipment.
Couple this tough working environment with the government's plan to cut all public sector wages - including medics' pay - by 25% and it is not surprising that a job abroad looks like an increasingly attractive option for health professionals.
And foreign firms are keen to take them on, setting up special careers fairs across Romania and other Eastern European countries to hire medical staff for hospitals in UK, Germany and France.
The Cariere in Alb (Jobs in White) is an such event. It arrived in Bucharest earlier this month in the middle of a tour of the country's major cities. Euranet's Tom Wilson tracked down the organiser of the fair - a final year medical student - to find out whether he felt it was right to be encouraging medics trained in the country to leave its struggling health service.
"Looking towards the Romanian system, yes, it is immoral – but looking towards the doctor in person it’s not immoral, because everyone is looking for a better life," he admitted.
The health minister says he is aware of the problem but insists there is little he can do, as his hands are tied by EU migration legislation. With further austerity cuts on the way, the prognosis for Romania's health system does not look good.
