Prime Minister Viktor Orban has instructed the ministers of justice and national resources to work out a plan of action for handling doctors who threaten to quit their jobs en masse at the end of the year.

The plan will seek to prevent a situation similar to that which emerged in Slovakia, where doctors protesting a pay rise left their jobs, creating a critical shortage of medical personnel, Peter Szijjarto, the prime minister's spokesman, said on Wednesday.

Szijjarto said under the plan, local emergency committees will be set up with the participation of health and public administration officials, who will re-assign doctors to areas affected by a possible shortage.

Szijjarto said negotiations with doctors would resume next week, adding that progress was expected to be made during the talks.

(MTI)