Czech hospitals short of nurses — Filipino medics called in to help

Czech hospitals are facing a severe shortage of medical staff, and some institutions have started bringing in nurses from the Philippines. According to official estimates, the country is short of around 2,500 nurses, and the staffing gap is already directly affecting how wards operate and how accessible healthcare is.

The problem has been confirmed across different regions. According to Miloslava Kučerová, a spokesperson for Regional Healthcare in the Ústí region, local hospitals are constantly in need of about 100 doctors and 200 nurses. Jihlava Hospital is currently looking for roughly 25 new staff members, mostly general nurses. At the Tomáš Baťa Regional Hospital in Zlín, several dozen non-physician medical positions remain unfilled.

Shortages and an ageing workforce

The situation is especially dire in inpatient care, which accounts for nearly 60% of all nursing positions — and it's here that staff shortages most quickly translate into overloaded shifts and forced cuts to bed capacity. An additional problem is the ageing workforce: in 2024, the average age of a nurse was 47.8 years, with one in six nurses over 60.

Nurses from the Philippines

Some hospitals are tackling the problem by recruiting abroad. The company Kasea is organising the arrival of Filipino nurses — the first of them reached Czechia in early June. In total, around twenty institutions plan to take on 250 selected candidates.

Prague's Thomayer Hospital will be among the first to welcome Filipino nurses, hoping to bring in 50 new staff members. Regional Healthcare in the Ústí region is also actively recruiting foreign workers, helping them with qualification recognition, language training and adaptation.

Not all hospitals share this approach. Jihlava is not focusing on foreign staff — the main obstacle there is cited as recognition of education obtained outside the EU and the requirement for Czech language proficiency. In Znojmo, the approach depends on the specialty: paediatric nurses are expected to have flawless Czech, so foreigners aren't considered for those roles, but the hospital is open to hiring foreign physiotherapists.

How the selection process works

Selection of candidates in the Philippines is rigorous — roughly one in four applicants makes it through. Mandatory requirements include a higher education degree, at least two years of continuous work experience, no gaps in the CV, and recognition of the diploma in Czechia. Candidates are assessed for motivation, adaptability and language-learning aptitude, and undergo medical examinations including tests for infectious diseases.

Czech language skills play a key role — future nurses start learning the language back home, 3 to 6 months before departure, with a focus on medical terminology. Candidates who fail to complete the course are not sent to Czechia. Once they arrive, training continues: newcomers are assigned a mentor for the initial period and are strictly limited in the procedures they're allowed to perform, while hospital staff undergo cultural training to prepare for working alongside their new colleagues.

A long process — and the ministry's stance

From the moment a hospital submits a request to the actual arrival of a specialist in Czechia, the process takes 9 to 11 months — considerably longer than in other countries, but according to recruitment organisers, this is what allows the quality of care to be maintained.

The Ministry of Health sees recruiting foreign staff as only part of the solution and is focusing primarily on training domestic professionals: increasing the number of places at universities and medical colleges for nursing programmes, easing transitions between specialisations, and improving working conditions. At the same time, the ministry acknowledges that the main barrier for foreign medical staff isn't bureaucracy but language preparation and passing the qualification exam.

A survey by Ipsos found that four out of five Czechs are aware of the nursing shortage and agree the problem needs to be addressed — with particularly positive reactions when people learn that foreign workers go through rigorous selection and language training. The private Penta Hospitals network is already employing Filipino medical staff — 20 currently work there, with plans to bring in another 60, including nurses, by the end of 2026.

Read also: Free Czech courses for foreigners: where to study

Around Prague, based on reporting by seznamzpravy.cz