Without an increase in the number of trainees, many hospitals are at risk of closure within ten years due to a shortage of nurses, said Petr Widimsky, dean of the 3rd Faculty of Medicine at Charles University in Prague, speaking at a press conference today at the Ministry of Health.
The government will today discuss a programme to increase the number of nursing students by at least 20% over the next 12 years. About 15,400 more are to be added, including paediatric nurses. Together with other auxiliary professions, such as nutritional therapists and paramedics, there will be up to 22,000 trainees. The programme is expected to cost CZK 12.8 billion.
There are currently about 80,000 general nurses working in hospitals. “Of these, almost 30,000 are full-time positions that will disappear through retirement in the next 10 to 12 years,” said Ladislav Dusek, director of the Institute of Health Information and Statistics (UZIS).
The shortage of nurses is already one of the biggest problems in the Czech healthcare system, 2,500 vacant full-time positions in hospitals. If the number of students does not increase, Widimsky said, this will be a problem for many hospitals.
“Within ten years, many healthcare facilities will completely close down because they will not have nurses. There will be no one to take care of patients in the inpatient wards,” the dean said.
Universities where non-medical health professionals are trained have increased the number of students admitted from the 2025/2026 academic year, following a CZK 200 million incentive from the government.
“Thanks to the incentive, universities have already recruited more students this year,” said Charles University rector Milena Kralickova. Zdenek Horak, rector of the Polytechnic University in Jihlava, said there is interest among students.
About 2,000 people graduate every year, and the number of graduates is expected to increase by up to 35% in 12 years. In addition, about 3,600 paramedics, 1,750 radiology assistants and 1,250 nutritional therapists should also graduate.
The Ministry of Health has also approached regional authorities to increase the number of places at medical secondary and higher vocational schools. About 2,300 students graduate annually from secondary schools with limited competencies in practical nursing, and about half of them go on to university or college.
