Bulgarian medics are ready to start protests in April because of the financial deficit and decreased wages in hospitals.

Health Minister Radoslav Gaidarski needs to acknowledge the crisis the Bulgarian healthcare system is experiencing, Podkrepa labour union representative Teodora Vulcheva said.

Vulcheva said important healthcare system structures have been closed down, Novinar newspaper reported.

By the end of the month hospital patients will start filling out anonymous surveys whether hospital staff requested money from them for services, Deputy Health Minister Matei Mateev said. Mateev did not clarify measures to be undertaken in case bribe reports are submitted.

For the first two months of 2006 the Aleksandrovska hospital only accumulated one million leva deficit. The total debt reached four million leva.

The average doctor salary for the same period was 447 leva, while it reached 630 leva in the beginning of 2005. Hospital managers said doctors will receive bonuses together with their April wages.