The public sector wage report that is published reveals the amounts that government hospital employees earn • A senior doctor earns more than NIS 77,000 a month • Beginning doctors earn about NIS 16,000 a month • And how much does a psychologist earn?

• Doctors' wages in public hospitals // Illustration: GettyImages

In the decade since the doctors 'previous salary agreement was signed, doctors' wages have increased by 59%. Anyone who was a young expert hired in 2009 has risen by 159% in the past decade only in the salary range he receives in the public sector.

According to a report on public sector wages published by the Treasury on Tuesday, the report only refers to the wages of government hospital employees, and does not refer to wages in health funds or non-governmental hospitals.

Protests by nurses in the hospital // Photos: Benny Flavan, Zohar Glickman, Moshe Ben Simhon

The data presented by the Treasury indicates that the 2011 physicians agreement was particularly favorable to the salaries of senior physicians.

The average salary of senior physicians increased by 82% in 2008-2011, while the salary of the interns (who received grants) increased by 54% (and was greatly affected by the time when the rules for granting doctors to the periphery were changed). The salary of interns who did not receive grants increased by 47% and the salary of young specialists increased by 61%.

The average salary per doctor - NIS 33,829

The average salary for physicians is 33,829, but it represents only the wages in the public system and does not include work in private hospitals, clinics or healthcare corporations.

The average salary in the entire health system is NIS 18,534. 33,067 employees are employed in government hospitals and in the government system. Of these, there are approximately 5,000 doctors and doctors, 10,700 brothers and sisters and 9,800 administrative staff.

The average salary of brothers and sisters is 18,128, of laboratory workers 16,263, administrative and economic workers earn 16,504. The salary for psychologists is only 6,484. However, low wages are explained by the fact that most psychologists work part-time and full-time wages amount to NIS 12,665.

The data also shows that while the population of Israel has increased by 14% over the past decade, the proportion of doctors has increased by 26% in 2011-2018. The increase is explained by the addition of physician standards (which is also part of the 2011 wage agreements). The number of managers and the economy also increased by 29%, an increase explained by the agreement for the absorption of managerial and economic workers as state employees signed in 2015.

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Doctors are characterized by the highest wage gaps in the system (alongside pharmacists): The average salary in the top decile of physicians is NIS 77,591 per month (twice the average physician salary), while the lower decile of doctors earn NIS 15,924.

In the case of doctors, the gap is due to the high salary level of the senior doctors, along with the high number of hours of emergency preparedness. Another factor that attracts physicians' wages in the top decile is the incremental wages for physicians in the periphery and in distressed professions.

Another interesting figure that emerges from the report is the effect of the doctors 'agreement on the increase in doctors' wages in peripheral hospitals: The data shows that the salary of specialized doctors in the far periphery (Eilat, Safed and Tiberias) is 29% higher than the salary of specialized doctors in the center. NIS, compared to a specialist in the center who earns NIS 22,425.

The biggest gap is in the salaries of young experts: in the center they earn an average of NIS 28,000, and in the periphery, NIS 42,000. A gap of about 50%.

Illustration Illustration: GettyImages

However, because the report deals only with physicians' wages in government hospitals, and does not include private sector earning capacity, which is higher in the center of the country, it does not reflect the full salary picture of the specialist and senior physicians at the center.

Physicians ’pay increases throughout their careers. The intern earns only NIS 10,000 a month, a doctor specializes about 25,000 a month, a specialist earns 30,000 and a senior specialist earns 40,000. Department and unit managers earn about NIS 52,000, and hospital managers and their deputies earn NIS 80,000.

The average salary for a physician in health corporations - NIS 10,790

The health corporations, which operate alongside the hospitals, employ 1,754 physicians and another 3,128 personal contractors, who are for the most part, at high salaries, like physicians.

The health corporations (or research fund) are the "backyard" of the health system. They were set up to enable the utilization of government hospitals infrastructure in the afternoon and evening and to shorten queues. Corporate income is from the health budget but does not apply to almost any government oversight or card stamping procedure and does not have transparency. Wage levels in healthcare corporations are four times higher than hospital wages. The average monthly salary for a physician through the health corporations amounts to NIS 10,790.

The report of the Wage Commissioner at the Treasury stated: "In order to create effective wage control in the public health system, the Supervisor of Wage Supervision must be applied to health corporations, like the other budgeted bodies."

The report is published in the year that doctors' wage agreements are expected to be negotiated, after a government is set up. wage. This is not the way to improve, "says a finance ministry official.