Public healthcare doctors across Spain will stop working on Wednesday January 14th and Thursday 15th to protest a new law which they fear will worsen their work conditions.
Spanish medical association Apemyf has called another strike in which doctors from most regions in Spain are expected to take part.
This is the fourth walkout to protest the overhaul of Spain’s Medical Framework Statute, following other protests in June, October and December of last year.
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While healthcare professionals have long been calling for a reform, they believe the new statute’s budgetary changes will jeopardise improvements in working conditions and healthcare services.
Doctors don’t want to carry out 24-hours shifts anymore, they’re demanding better remuneration for physicians on call, and that work weeks be under 48 hours.
Apemyf has called for medical professionals in Madrid, Catalonia, the Basque Country, Galicia, Navarre, the Valencian region, Murcia and Asturias to all take part, as well as family GPs throughout Spain.
There are reports of doctors in other regions of Spain also joining the stoppage, such as in the Canary Islands, Aragón, Castilla y León and La Rioja.
The new two-day strike will be joined by demonstrations in several cities, such as Madrid, where the Madrid doctors’ union Amyts has scheduled one from the Congress to the Ministry of Health.
Two similar protests have also been called in Barcelona.
In terms of what patients can expect, Spanish hospitals provide minimum services during strikes by law, meaning that ERs will be open for emergency treatment.
However, prescheduled appointments which aren’t deemed urgent may well be cancelled.
