Turkey's medical employees stage a strike

Hundreds of health workers, including doctors, nurses, medical staff and laboratory assistants gathered in Istanbul, Turkey’s largest city, and called on the government to resign.

The strike called by the Turkish Medical Association comes against the withdrawal of the legislative proposal foreseeing improvements in the employee personal rights of physicians and dentists from the General Assembly of the Parliament.

With the strike in effect since the early morning hours, no healthcare services are offered in medical institutions, except for emergency services, dialysis, intensive care services and emergency services for children.

Health workers complained about the difficulty of making ends meet, as inflation soared with the lira losing half its value against the dollar this year.

The Turkish Medical Association says health care workers have grown increasingly frustrated with the government’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic, a lack of transparency in data on infections and deaths due to COVID-19 and measures to protect health personnel.

The physicians are also against the imposition of examinations at short time intervals, arguing that they should spare at least 20 minutes for their patients. Currently, the inspection time in the state hospitals varies between five to 10 minutes.

Many medical professionals have sought to leave the country due to low salaries, long hours and the risk of violence, it added. More than 100,000 doctors have been physically and verbally assaulted in the last 11 years and at least 10 have been killed by patients, it said.