The meeting was held via videoconference.
Opening remarks by Mikhail Mishustin:
Mikhail Mishustin’s opening remarks at the meeting on incentive payments for medical staff that provide care to patients with the novel coronavirus infection
Good afternoon, colleagues,
Let us begin by discussing the implementation status of the incentive payment transfers for medical workers who bear the brunt of fighting the spread of the coronavirus infection. Doctors, nurses and ward attendants do their best to help their patients every day. Many of them are running major risks and spend almost all their time at work giving all their efforts, knowledge and skills to patients with the coronavirus. That is why delivering on our promises to them is a top priority for the federal, regional and local authorities and, of course, the heads of medical centres. Delays in distributing these benefits to medical workers are simply untenable.
Payment benefits for medical workers in the regions are being monitored at the highest level at all times. President Putin raised this issue at the meeting on opening the Defence Ministry’s multi-purpose medical centres on Friday. We discussed this matter at a meeting held that same day. The regions received the funds needed to pay these incentives. We transferred them on 8 and 20 April, and then on 9, 10 and 16 May. They should have been promptly paid to each specialist. Not just the medical institutions, but specific recipients. I already mentioned this on Friday. Doctors should have received their payments for April. Now is the time to administer payments for May. This should now be underway in every region.
Once again, I ask the heads of medical centres to personally monitor when and how much your employees are paid. After all, what do we see in reality? The regions interpreted the President’s instructions and the Government’s decisions in their own way which led to a situation where they started basing bonus payments on the number of shifts, or even hours and minutes spent on the job. Not only are these actions at odds with presidential addresses and instructions, but the people who are making these decisions should be ashamed to be doing this to the doctors and other medical workers who put their health and, unfortunately, even lives, at risk on a daily basis and have been unable to go home to their friends and families for weeks now. What they got instead of gratitude and a well-deserved bonus were petty calculations of the amount of time they spent helping coronavirus patients.
In order to put an end to these abuses once and for all, the Government issued a specific procedure for calculating federal incentive payments to doctors in the regions. From now on, this should be calculated based on working with the patients with the coronavirus, regardless of hours or shifts. The amount of time will not be taken into account when calculating bonus payments. Once again, I want the deputy prime ministers and ministers in charge, when they draft documents to implement the President’s instructions in the future, to use language that precludes the possibility of dual interpretation on the ground.
We also specified the list of employees entitled to incentive bonuses. In addition to doctors, ambulance drivers who provide transport services to medical institutions on a contractual basis will receive these bonuses as well.
I emphasise that all drivers who are directly involved in the provision of emergency medical care to patients with the coronavirus infection will be paid a bonus in the amount of 25,000 roubles. There are over 42,000 such drivers in the country. The corresponding Government decree has been signed. I want the regions to pay this money in full and without delay.
Also on Saturday, 16 May, the Government endorsed the distribution of yet another tranche worth over 22 billion roubles among the regions. The regions must use these funds to pay medical workers for May. Last weekend, the Federal Treasury transferred these funds to the Ministry of Health so the regions could do this promptly. After signing additional agreements with the Health Ministry the funds must be distributed and the regions must start distributing payments without delay.
Today, medical workers that are directly involved with coronavirus patients are entitled to additional insurance guarantees if they are affected by the disease. After all, helping others, medical workers are putting their own health at serious risk.
The Government issued an instruction listing the diseases that may develop or could be aggravated due to the coronavirus. If this happens, medical workers will receive a lump sum insurance payment of over 68,000 roubles. I would like to remind you that under the President’s executive order, if a disease leads to incapacity or death, insurance benefits will be much higher.
The Government has approved a provisional regulation on insurance events. It will be valid until the end of this year and will make it possible to distribute benefits to affected doctors and other medical workers.
To expedite payments to medical workers, we are introducing an additional mechanism of public control over this process.
Under my instructions, starting today, they can directly report any problems they are facing via a special section on the government services website. They can also receive consultations on payments by calling a toll-free national hotline (the number of the toll-free national hotline on countering the coronavirus is 8-800-2000-112). I would like to ask all those involved in this to respond immediately to every call or message.
Colleagues! All presidential instructions and critical remarks must be carried out before tomorrow when Mr Putin will hold a meeting with us on this issue. I would like to ask the relevant deputy prime ministers to thoroughly prepare reports for the President.
