Gestor bibliográfico Crisis y Salud

The government of the Spanish autonomous community of Catalonia, which serves 7.5 million people, is cutting the salaries of 40 000 public health professionals in the region’s eight university hospitals and more than 300 primary care centres to save €70m from the regional health budget till the end of 2011. The savings will be made by halving staff’s Christmas bonus of between €420 and €1120 and delaying payments of other entitlements, such as out of hours and on call payments, which will be paid after 60 days, instead of the usual 30 days. More than 12 000 doctors, 18 000 nurses, and 10 000 other health workers employed by the Catalan Health Institute (Instituto Catalán de la Salud) are affected.