‘Health Minister should get off Twitter and get down to field,’ says union

* Photo: AA-Archive

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Zekeriya Bacaksız, the Chair of General Health Union (Genel Sağlık-İş), has warned that the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak is getting more severe in Turkey and expressed concerns about the upcoming autumn season, considering the increasing number of cases in the country.

"Health Minister Fahrettin Koca should get off Twitter and get down to the field," he has said in a written statement where he has also noted that the recent period has witnessed an increase in the number of health workers' resignation, requests for retirement or working in a private hospital.

'They will be unable to find health laborers'

As reported by daily Evrensel, Bacaksız has briefly said:

"In the current situation, if the government keeps on being so blind, deaf and mute in the face of health workers' problems, they will be unable to find health laborers to work.

"We call on the Health Minister to get off Twitter and make examinations in the field. Any unsustainability in health services will lead to serious problems for the struggle against the outbreak."

Requests

Bacaksız has made the following recommendations and requests:

• Lack of personnel should be eliminated, personnel planning should be done for services with a heavy workload.
• It needs to be ensured that the health workers subjected to long and uninterrupted working hours can take a rest.
• Sufficient personal protective equipment (PPE) should be provided to health workers.
• PCR tests should be regularly conducted on health workers, those who test positive should be quickly quarantined and treated.
• The health workers who do not show the symptoms, but test positive for the virus should not be made to work.
• The need of health workers for a place to stay in the autumn should be organized urgently.
• As the schools will give online education, the health workers' problem of kindergartens for their children should be solved. The bitter past experiences have shown how vital an issue the kindergarten is.
• The nonsense of 'the rolling capital will be paid at the highest level' should be abandoned, the basic wages of all health workers should be increased to a level compatible with human dignity.

(EKN/SD)