On July 5, the OGBL Health, Social and Educational Services Syndicate and the Association of Doctors in Specialization (Association des médecins en voie de spécialisation – ALMEVS) met with the Minister of Health, Paulette Lenert, to discuss the challenges facing doctors in specialization and the measures needed to improve their working conditions in Luxembourg.

Representatives of the OGBL and ALMEVS stressed that adequate working conditions are essential in order to attract and retain young doctors in Luxembourg and thus address the shortage of qualified personnel in the sector. As a reminder, the ALMEVS and the OGBL signed an agreement in March 2023 providing for closer cooperation to this end.

However, while it is important to improve the working conditions of doctors in the process of specialization, it is also essential to standardize these working conditions in order to avoid a system that is too opaque and competitive. As far as future developments and adjustments are concerned, these will have to take place in the context of social dialogue, with the direct participation of those primarily concerned and representative organizations.

The Minister of Health undertook to support doctors in the process of specialization and to work closely with the OGBL and ALMEVS to find concrete solutions.

At the end of the meeting, the Minister of Health announced her intention to set up a working group to study the issues raised and to make concrete recommendations to improve and unify the statutes of doctors undergoing specialization in Luxembourg. This working group will be composed of all the actors directly or indirectly concerned by the issue, in order to ensure overall coherence from the outset.

The Minister of Health, the OGBL and the ALMEVS are convinced that the strengthening of this collaboration will make it possible to advance the discussions and to take concrete measures to convince doctors in the process of specialization of the attractiveness of Luxembourg and, consequently, to settle in the Grand Duchy with a view to improving patient care in the future.

Press release of the OGBL Health, Social and Educational Services Syndicate and the ALMEVS,
July 10th, 2023