Resident doctors to be mandatorily included in hospital on-call shifts, with pay

Romania's Minister of Health, Alexandru Rogobete, announced that a draft amendment to Order No. 870 of the Minister of Health has been submitted for public consultation, providing for the mandatory inclusion of resident doctors in the on-call schedules of the healthcare facilities where they undergo training.

According to the draft:

healthcare institutions will be required, upon request, to include resident doctors in on-call duty schedules;

residents will work alongside the primary on-call physician;

this activity will contribute to completing the normal working hours requirement.

The minister explained that the measure aims to correct what he described as an unfair situation regarding the recognition and remuneration of residents' work.

"Residents are not an appendix to the specialist doctor, the senior doctor or the "professor.' They are the future of the healthcare system,” the minister stated.

Under the newly proposed rules:

From the first year of residency, resident doctors may, upon request, participate in the on-call schedule of the specialty in which they are training;

the activity will take place outside normal working hours;

they may not serve in the primary on-call line;

they must work under the responsibility and supervision of the attending physician. From the third year of residency: residents may, upon request, participate even in the primary on-call line; the activity will also take place outside normal working hours; participation will only be permitted within the limits of their professional competencies; supervision will be provided by a designated specialist or senior physician.

On-call shifts will be mandatorily paid

One of the main announced changes is the mandatory payment for on-call duties performed beyond regular working hours.

According to the minister: all on-call duties carried out outside regular working hours must be paid by the healthcare institution;

remuneration will be provided in accordance with the legal provisions currently in force.

The Minister of Health emphasized that resident doctors must be treated as an essential part of the medical system and not as auxiliary personnel. "A resident doctor is neither a laborer, nor at someone's disposal, nor mere "filler' when on-call shifts cannot otherwise be covered,” Alexandru Rogobete stated. If the draft is adopted in its proposed form, resident doctors will have a more active and better-regulated role in hospital on-call services, while also benefiting from mandatory payment for overtime work and clearer integration into emergency clinical activities.