Doctors express concern over sole proprietorship in private health sector

Members of the İstanbul Medical Chamber's Commission for Private Physicians have expressed concern over sole proprietorship becoming the dominant model among doctors working in the private sector.

Doctors working in this model don't have some rights that permanent employees have, such as severance pay and annual leave.

"Private hospitals put all the responsibility on the physicians. Also, they show (doctors' work) as an expense and gets rid of paying tax as well," the daily BirGün quoted Dr. Güray Kılıç, a member of the commission, as saying.

Nearly 85 percent of all doctors in the 566 private hospitals in the country work as a sole proprietorship, Kılıç noted.

The practice started in 2015 but it was found to be against the labor law, said Kılıç. "Inspectors issued fines on hospitals. The Social Security Institution said, 'I won't pay you for the physicians you employ this way.'

"After that, they made a change and the SGK accepted to make payments. And then the Finance (Ministry) issued fines. This practice is against the fundamental laws, labor laws."

Hospitals also rent departments such as eye, vitro fertilization and plastic surgery, to sole proprietors, he further said, noting that it is also against the laws.

Hasan Oğan, another member of the commission, said, "This situation is illegal, unlawful. If you work dependent on someone, you are a worker. There is no other definition for that.

"Employers in healthcare find such an absurd system to avoid both financial burden and responsibility in terms of the SGK."

Noting that two legal arrangements in 2015 and 2022 that came after pressure from private hospitals allowed such an employment model, Oğan said, "Consequently, when we want to work at a healthcare organization, they first ask, 'Do you have a company or not?'" (VK)