Doctors are set to begin an indefinite strike across the country on 28 October

This has been agreed by the doctors’ strike committee, comprising the Spanish confederation of medical trade unions (CESM), the Andalusian doctors’ union (SMA), Metges de Catalunya (MC), the association of doctors and senior qualified professionals of Madrid (AMYTS), the Basque medical union (SME) and the union of independent doctors of Galicia (O’MEGA).

“The organisations have agreed to stand united in the face of a reform which, in their view, fails to address the sector’s long-standing demands or adequately recognise the unique nature, responsibilities and specific conditions of the training and practice of doctors and medical practitioners,” they stated in a joint press release.

They said that the aim of the protest is to persuade the ministry of health to reconsider its approach and to enter into genuine negotiations that "will enable progress towards a dedicated statute for doctors and medical practitioners, capable of recognising the specific characteristics of the profession and guaranteeing working conditions commensurate with their level of responsibility and training’.

Doctors are therefore insisting that their point of contact must be the ministry headed by Mónica García, despite the fact that the health minister maintains that her department is no longer part of the equation, having referred the text to Parliament. “I must say that I have avoided, and have tried to avoid, these strikes at all times for one very simple reason: because the framework statute is before the congress of deputies (the lower house of Spain’s Parliament),” she stated this Friday on Onda Cero. She reiterated that this is a bill that has reached the congress of deputies so that it may be “approved, rejected or amended by the parliamentary groups”.

The current framework statute dates from 2003, and so all the parties involved (the ministry, the autonomous communities and healthcare professionals) agree that it needs updating. However, doctors do not agree with the health ministry’s proposal, as they believe it "perpetuates" their situation, which they describe as "neglect, overwork and a lack of recognition by the authorities". On-call hours, the pay for these hours and the limit on working hours are some of the key issues causing this discontent. They are therefore calling for their own set of regulations.

The strike committee has on previous occasions criticised the ministry of health’s "stubbornness" in pressing ahead with a framework statute, ignoring months of strikes, protests and repeated attempts to engage in genuine negotiations. In fact, doctors have been stepping up the pressure as the months have gone by, and the strikes have progressed from full-day strikes to weekly ones, culminating in an indefinite strike.

“28 October will thus mark the start of an indefinite nationwide strike, through which the trade unions aim to send the ministry an unequivocal message: the medical profession is calling for its own professional framework and a response commensurate with its specific characteristics,” the committee concluded.