Medical Workers To Go On Strike Next Week

Representatives from 14 medical personnel unions have decided to walk off the job on March 13, calling for better working standards. Tens of thousands of medical workers from all departments, excluding intensive and emergency care, are expected to go on strike next Friday.

Speaking on behalf of medical workers who gathered in the yard of İstanbul's Cerrahpaşa Medical Faculty Hospital, Turkish Doctors Union (TBB) Vice President Raşit Tükel said: “The results of the health transformation program implemented 12 years ago are obvious. A profit-seeking medical system is a system where the right to a healthy life is restricted and blocked. We all suffer under a health care system where contribution shares paid by patients are continuously increasing.” “We work for long hours, which will never be returned to us. We work under a system that stresses constant performance,” Tükel continued.

The evaluation system introduced by a parliamentary bill in 2004, regulating the salaries of health personnel based on their performance, has long been criticized by sector representatives, though the Ministry of Health has made amendments to the bill on multiple occasions. The secretary-general of the TBB, Samet Mengüç, also lambasted the health policies of the government and said, “On March 13 we will strike for urgent solutions to our problems.”

Dozens of medical personnel protested on Thursday, carrying signs that read “No to Subcontractors!”, “We are Off-duty on Feb. 13 for Our Health!”, “Commerce in Health Causes Death!”, “Lift the Performance System!” and “We will Strike on Feb. 13!”

Minister: We serve nearly ideal medical support

Meanwhile, on Friday Health Minister Mehmet Müezzinoğlu said he had difficulties understanding why the TBB made the decision to strike despite government efforts so far. The minister insisted that the government and the ministry have been giving nearly optimal support to medical personnel. Responding to the press in Ankara, Müezzinoğlu said: “Today the Turkish medical industry works under conditions they wouldn't have dreamt of 10 years ago. We care deeply about improving the health system and will continue to seek solutions. God willing, the future will only look brighter for doctors and medical personnel.”

(Cihan/Today's Zaman)