Health Minister Hosams Abu Meri (New Unity) is convinced that healthcare workers need a pay rise next year, but he is uncertain whether a 30% increase for everyone working in the healthcare sector, as demanded by trade unions, can be achieved.
In an interview with TV3’s 900 sekundes, the minister said it had been difficult to find funding for pay increases last year because national security and defence had been designated the absolute priorities of the state budget.
The declaration of the new government led by Andris Kulbergs (United List) states that healthcare funding should account for no less than 12% of government expenditure, or at least 6% of gross domestic product. According to Abu Meri, this means that at least an additional 400–500 million euros is needed, including funding for salaries.
He stressed that whoever becomes the next health minister will face difficulties finding money to increase funding for the sector because Latvia’s economic growth is very slow.
“All ministries will have to look for it. We have to save in order to give more to healthcare workers and patients,”
the minister said.
Asked whether this means healthcare workers should not expect the 30% pay rise next year that will be demanded at today’s protest by medical professionals, Abu Meri replied that “we will ask for it”, but stressed that the final decision depends on the finance minister and the entire governing coalition, not solely on the health minister.
As previously reported, a picket organised by the Latvian Health and Social Care Workers’ Trade Union (LVSADA) will take place outside the government building today, with protesters primarily demanding a pay increase of as much as one quarter.
The stated reason for the protest is the government’s failure to take concrete and financially backed measures to address the healthcare crisis.
According to LVSADA,
the aim of the protest is to stand up for accessible healthcare,
the future of healthcare workers and the lives of every person.
Under Cabinet regulations governing minimum monthly salaries and special allowances for healthcare workers, the minimum monthly salary for a nursing assistant and medical assistant is set at 863 euros, which is 43 euros above the minimum wage planned for 2027. The minimum monthly salary for a nurse is set at 1,189 euros.
Although Latvia has roughly half as many nurses as the European Union average, the pay gap remains substantial, the trade union stresses. LVSADA warns that without a proportionate increase in healthcare workers’ salaries, staff shortages in the sector will worsen.
Around 1,000 people are expected to take part in the protest.
The Free Trade Union Confederation of Latvia (LBAS) told LETA that, according to economists’ calculations,
Latvia’s economy loses between 800 million and one billion euros annually due to chronic underfunding of healthcare.
LBAS chairman Egils BaldzÄ“ns said losses associated with premature mortality and preventable diseases amount to between 400 million and 500 million euros. Long waiting lists and diseases being diagnosed or treated too late account for another 250–300 million euros, while insufficient access to medicines causes losses of between 100 million and 150 million euros. The loss of healthcare professionals is estimated to cost another 40–50 million euros.
The Latvian Association of General Practitioners (LĢĀA) has also announced that it will participate in the protest, supporting the trade union’s demand for at least a 30% pay rise for all healthcare workers in next year’s state budget, as well as the demand for Abu Meri’s resignation as health minister.
Association head Alise Nicmane-Aišpure said that in August this year the Ministry of Health was presented with a demand to increase the remuneration of general practitioners included in capitation payments by 20% from 1 January 2027. The association bases its demand on the increase in inflation in Latvia since 2022.
At present,
a general practitioner’s salary component included in capitation funding is set at 2,304 euros,
or 2,847.51 euros per month including the employer’s mandatory state social insurance contributions. The calculation applies to the provision of healthcare for 1,566 patients.
LĢĀA is dissatisfied that a month after submitting its demand, the health minister has still not approached the Cabinet about increasing remuneration from 2027.
On 8 September, LĢĀA, the Latvian Association of Young General Practitioners and the Latvian Rural Family Doctors Association agreed that unused funding allocated to primary healthcare this year, originally intended for salaries of additional staff and rural allowances, could instead be redirected towards the digitalisation of general practitioners’ practices. LĢĀA says the Ministry of Health has not submitted this proposal to the government.
The association has also criticised government-backed amendments to the Medical Treatment Law. LĢĀA says several medical organisations have objected to individual changes and that the association itself has submitted five negative opinions.
The draft amendments introduce new obligations for general practitioners
concerning the entry and use of patient data in the e-health system, as well as changes to rules governing liability and contractual penalties.
Meanwhile, legal proceedings over disputed provisions in the National Health Service contract have been ongoing since the end of 2024. The dispute concerns procedures for amending the contract, conditions for reviewing remuneration and compensation for losses.
As previously reported, LVSADA has demanded that the 2027 state budget provide for a pay increase of no less than 30% for all healthcare workers, with the necessary funding incorporated into tariffs for state-funded healthcare services.
The union has also demanded a review of Cabinet regulations on minimum monthly salaries and special allowances for healthcare workers, as well as the introduction of a regular mechanism for reviewing salaries.
LVSADA initially demanded a 30% pay increase but, “in search of a compromise”, agreed to 25.4%.
In September, the Ministry of Health informed the union that a 25.4% pay increase would require 228.7 million euros.
Participants in the meeting acknowledged the seriousness of the situation, but no decision was taken on allocating the funding, nor was any further action plan or deadline for a decision established.
If the government does not provide the funding, healthcare workers’ pay relative to the national average wage will fall back to its 2018 level, LVSADA says. The union warns that this would result in even greater staff shortages, the closure of services and patients failing to receive the care they need.
A draft Cabinet response concerning the 2027 state budget acknowledges that the healthcare sector requires an additional 663 million euros in funding, but identifies a need of only 45.2 million euros for human resources. The document does not specify how much funding will actually be allocated, LVSADA notes.
A decision by the LVSADA Council states that the target set in the Public Health Guidelines for 2021–2027 – for state healthcare funding to reach 6% of GDP in 2027 – will not be achieved.
The annual indexation of target salaries for healthcare professionals in line with wage growth in Latvia, as envisaged in the guidelines, has also not been introduced.
If the government fails to adopt concrete and financially backed decisions on healthcare funding and salary increases for all employees in the sector, the LVSADA Bureau has been instructed to convene an extraordinary Council meeting to decide on further measures permitted by law to defend the collective interests of healthcare workers.
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