Press Release, 26.11.2020

Chairman of the Yabloko Party Nikolai Rybakov sent an appeal to Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin, in which he urges the head of government to amend Decree No. 1762 on the state measures of social support and to increase payments to health workers in the situation of the COVID pandemic, as well as to extend payments to support staff of medical instituations.

In his address, the head of Yabloko notes that Decree No. 1762 “On State and Social Support in 2020-2021 for Medical and Other Workers…”, adopted in late October so that to put in order the payments, will lead to a significant reduction in additional payments to healthcare workers.

The trade unions of medical workers (the ‘Trade Union of the Russian Federation Healthcare Workers, the Interregional Trade Union of Healthcare Workers “Deistviye” – “Action”) predict a decrease in the amount of additional payments that healthcare workers receive for working with patients with coronavirus under this Decree.

According to the expert community, payments can grow only for those who work several shifts and directly in the “red zones”, while payments will be reduced for medical staff of ambulance stations and out-patient clinics who irregularly work with patients with COVID, and sometimes do not know whether the patient is sick or not.

In addition, support measures do not fully apply to employees of non-state medical institutions (for example, those who perform COVID tests) and employees of specialised social service institutions (in particular, psycho-neurological boarding schools).

“Saving on the support of healthcare workers in today’s extreme conditions says a lot about our state and its priorities. The authorities proudly announced from the TV screens that they would not abandon them at this difficult time. In fact, everything turns out to be just another slyness, if not a lie. At every opportunity, the state discards its declared social obligations. In today’s situation, saving on medical workers, many of whom have already given their lives in the fight against the epidemic, is unfair and immoral,” Yabloko Chairman Nikolai Rybakov says.

The head of Yabloko also draws the Prime Minister’s attention to the fact that difficulties in providing financial support (incentive payments) to medical workers during a pandemic is one of the key and most urgent problems.

Nikolai Rybakov proposed to the Prime Minister to amend the said decree as soon as possible and make there the following provisions:

– increase in payments to all employees working in the “red zone” (including service personnel);

– maintaining the level of incentive payments that were in effect before the October decree;

– extension of incentive payments also to support employees of medical institutions – cleaners, lift operators, canteen workers, nurses, receptionists, etc.;

– extension of social payments to employees of non-state medical institutions and specialised social service institutions.

It should be noted that employees of stationary social institutions received about 467,000 of payments for a total amount of about 13.4 billion roubles for their work during the pandemic. Until October 31, 2020, healthcare workers involved in the treatment of COVID-19 received an increase in their salaries from the federal budget under two decrees No. 415 and No. 484. The monthly additional payment for doctors of the highest category was up to 80,000 roubles, and up to 50,000 roubles for ambulance doctors, and up to 25,000 roubles for the paramedical personnel.

According to the new decree, the amount of payments will be calculated depending on the standard shifts worked (one shift is one-fifth of the working time per week for a particular healthcare worker) and will range from 600 to 3,880 roubles per shift, depending on the category of the medical worker. Now everything will depend on how much the medical worker has worked in contact with coronavirus patients. Payments will go through the Social Insurance Fund, where medical institutions have to provide the lists of their workers. The first money under the new rules will be accrued in December (the money for November).