Public doctors on strike again: hospitals paralyzed from this Tuesday

A standoff began months ago between the Independent Union of Public Sector Doctors (SIMSP) and the Ministry of Health and Social Protection. Pointing out several major problems which undermine their daily lives and compromise their future, but also that of the sector of the public healthTHE doctors denounce a stagnation of salaries which takes into account neither inflation nor the heavy workload and demand a significant increase in their income, as was the case for other professions of equivalent level.

Furthermore, these doctors who warn of the alarming insufficiency of material resources, also denounce the lack of staff and recurring professional burnout: inadequacies which directly impact the quality of care, endangering the health of patients, they specify. Furthermore, the SIMSP demands guarantees on the maintenance and strengthening of the public status of the health sector in the face of what it describes as “creeping privatization”, criticizing insufficient communication and sterile negotiations with ministerial authorities.

The strike: this malaise with multiple consequences

The strikers, believing that the measures taken by the ministry do not respond to the urgency of the situation nor the scale of the problems, see no other way out than to maintain the action plan announced since the beginning of the month in course. Scheduled for December 24, 25, and 26, the announced strike will then exacerbate an already tense situation at the level of hospitals. Recalling the effects of postponements of interventions, the saturation of emergencies and the accumulated fatigue of non-striking personnel, observers call for a rapid and effective agreement in order to avoid an irreversible deterioration of theaccess to care and to restore the confidence of professionals in public institutions.

At the same time, despite the prolonged mobilization and calls for intervention, the Ministry of Health seems, according to the strikers, to adopt a posture considered unconvincing. Certainly, several meetings took place between union representatives and government officials, however, no compromise was found in order to really resolve the situation. The continuation of this strike illustrates a deep divide between the expectations of public sector doctors and the position of the supervisory department. A real dialogue, accompanied by concrete financial and strategic commitments, seems essential to resolve this crisis.