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Doctors begin a one-week strike each month in Madrid over the statute reform
Doctors have begun a series of one-week strikes each month to demand an independent professional statute instead of the proposed reform of working conditions.
A week of strike action has begun in the Comunidad de Madrid, and these actions are expected to be repeated once a month until June.
On the first day, more than two hundred doctors gathered at Hospital General Universitario Gregorio Marañón. Participants are demanding an independent professional statute which, in their view, must take account of the particularities of medical work and shift conditions.
The Amyts union has stated that the framework document proposed by the Ministry of Health does not resolve key issues related to work organisation and workload. The contentious points include the length of the working week and the on-call system.
Practising doctors and residents spoke during the action. Representatives of Asociación MIR España drew attention to the schedules of young specialists and their dependence on paid on-call duties.
According to regional-authority data, participation in the hospital strike on the first day was around 1 per cent. The protests are directed against the reform of the statute regulating working conditions in the National Health System. Negotiations between the parties continue.