The agreement was that clarity on the new salaries would be provided by the end of August. Misiekaba, however, stresses that the information will only be released once the entire package has been finalized. According to the minister, an advance payment to provide workers with some relief in the meantime was not possible. “We are working hard on it, and I ask people to be patient,” Misiekaba said. According to him, work on implementing the agreement is taking place every day. Negotiations with the two umbrella trade unions initially proved difficult. The ministry’s first proposal was rejected by the unions, after which a counterproposal was deemed financially unfeasible, according to Misiekaba.

To break the deadlock, the management of healthcare institutions and the National Hospital Council (NZR) were brought to the negotiating table alongside the unions. After several discussions, particularly between mid-August and the third week of August, an agreement was eventually reached on a package that, according to the minister, is financially and practically feasible.

A significant portion of the funding for the higher salaries is expected to come from increased hospital per diem rates. According to Misiekaba, calls for adjustments to these rates have been made for a long time. He says a market-based rate would be approximately USD 200, or around SRD 8,000. However, the government is not opting for a full increase for the time being. Hospitals are expected to receive an initial increase of between SRD 2,000 and SRD 2,500. A further increase would likely follow in January. The additional revenue should give healthcare institutions the financial room to cover the higher salaries themselves.

Implementation also means that the salary structure of healthcare institutions must be adjusted. Misiekaba refers to a new “salary framework” for which administrative preparations are necessary. The minister is also placing the salary discussion firmly in a broader perspective. According to him, better pay should also result in better service for patients. He wants greater attention to be paid not only to salaries but also to the quality of healthcare, both among nurses and doctors. “Everyone is talking about salaries,” Misiekaba said, arguing that the focus should ultimately also be on how patients are treated. The minister is therefore directly linking improved working conditions to higher standards for healthcare delivery. Misiekaba assures that the ministry is not sitting idle, but he cannot yet give an exact date for when the new salaries will actually appear on workers’ pay slips.