Nadia McDonald
The Andalucian Medical Union has called for seven days worth of strikes until the end of May.
Strikes are proposed to take place between 8am and 8pm on every Wednesday up until the end of May and calls for the participation of primary care doctors and pediatricians.
In Malaga alone, 1500 medical professionals are expected to mobilize.
The call to action is due to a lack of compliance to an agreement made between medical unions and the Andalucian Administration which sought to limit the number of patients to 35 a day and, in the case of child patients, to 25.
Unions have been trying for two decades to improve working schedules in order to allow for at least 10 minutes per patient.
Currently the average doctor will see 60 patients a day, a number which unions explain ‘reduces the quality of care’ and leads to ‘greater error’.
From the managers’ standpoint the lack of availability of medical staff is driving up daily patient per doctor numbers however, unions blame ‘poor working conditions’ and ‘even worse remuneration’ for the “leakage” of medical professionals.
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