Parliamentary questions on assistant physicians’ work conditions left unanswered

* Photo: Anadolu Agency (AA)

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In the wake of 25-year-old Rümeysa Berin Şen's death in a car crash after a 36-hour shift at a public hospital in Ankara, the working conditions of assistant physicians have once again come to the agenda.

It has turned out that five different Parliamentary questions addressed to Minister of Health Fahrettin Koca regarding the working conditions of assistant physicians in Turkey have been left unresponded.

As reported by daily Cumhuriyet, Mustafa Yalçın, an assistant physician working at the Faculty of Medicine of Uludağ University, committed suicide in February. It was alleged that Yalçın had been subjected to mobbing.

After this incident, professional organizations made statements criticizing the working conditions of assistant physicians.

However, these statements were not taken into account and this issue has once again come to the public agenda with the passing of Şen.

According to the website of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey (TBMM), during the COVID-19 pandemic, five Parliamentary questions were submitted to Koca about the work conditions of assistant physicians. In those written questions, the mobbing suffered by assistant workers was problematized and an improvement of their working conditions was requested.

However, none of these questions has been answered so far. Two Parliamentary inquiries submitted by the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) have also not been brought to the agenda.

Denouncing the failure to address their questions and inquiries, CHP Ankara MP Dr. Servet Ünsal has said, "Assistant physicians are waiting for their rights in terms of their shifts and additional payments."

32-hour shifts, 13 work in place of 27

The Health and Social Service Laborers' Union (SES) Ankara Branch has recently conducted a study in Ankara and shared its findings about nearly 6,750 assistant physicians working in the capital city.

The study has shown that assistant physicians work in 32-hour shifts without any interruptions. Noting that "assistant physicians are regarded as a cheap workforce", the union has said, "Despite the hazard, assistant physicians cannot have enough rest even in specialty units."

Sharing information about a specific clinic, the SES study has found that the total work hours to be completed by 27 assistant physicians are completed by 13 assistant physicians. "Instead of 109 thousand lira to be paid to 14 physicians, the administration makes 13 assistants do this job and pays them 42 thousand lira in return," the union has explained the situation.

The study has also found that "even though assistant physicians' workload and right to have a rest are ignored, they receive their shift payments, which accounts for 30 percent of their income, with a 1.5-month delay on the stated grounds that hospitals have economic problems." (SO/SD)