The devastating consequences of the "Health Transformation Programme", which the AKP started to implement in 2003, made themselves felt in 2024. The health system decayed due to the emphasis on quantity instead of quality, the view of hospitals as commercial centres and patients as customers, and the handing over of health to commercial boards. The desire to solve the problems with "dressing" methods caused the crises to deepen during the year.

 

Violence in health increased and thousands of health workers left the country. It became impossible to find appointments in hospitals and to access many medicines. The decay in the field of health became even more evident with the "Newborn Gang" that murdered babies. The calls of health organisations demanding the establishment of an equal, qualified, free and accessible health system to change the system were ignored.

 

VIOLENCE IN HEALTH INCREASED

 

Violence against health labourers continued in 2024. Physical and psychological violence against health labourers by patients or their relatives did not slow down. The Ministry of Health had launched the "2022-2023 Action Plan for the Prevention of Violence in Health" as part of the "Second White Reform". However, the only action taken within this scope was to increase the number of police and security personnel in hospitals. This plan of the Ministry did not stop the violence. While at least 9,35 thousand 35 healthcare professionals were subjected to violence in 2023, this number almost doubled in 2024.

 

2 THOUSAND 472 PHYSICIANS APPLY FOR 'GOOD BEHAVIOUR CERTIFICATE'

 

Thousands of physicians, struggling with problems such as violence, mobbing and low wages, either travelled abroad or resigned during the year. Despite the increase in the number of hospitals, there was a serious decrease in the number of health labourers working in hospitals. Physicians requested a "certificate of good conduct" from the Turkish Medical Association (TTB). According to the data of TTB; While there were 512 requests for "Certificate of Good Conduct" in 2020, 805 in 2021, 1684 in 2022, one thousand 964 more people made the same request in the first 8 months of 2023. Again, between 1 January-30 November 2024, a total of 2,472 physicians, including 1,359 general practitioners and 1,113 specialists, applied for a "certificate of good conduct". The Ministry of Health responded by reducing the examination time to 5 minutes.

 

UNION STRUGGLE

 

As in previous years, the repression against opposition unions continued this year. Health workers who wanted to organise in opposition unions were subjected to mobbing. Labourers were forced to become members of unions close to the government in 2024. Names in unions close to the AKP were appointed to managerial positions in hospitals.

Despite all the pressures, many unions such as the Health and Social Service Workers' Union (SES) and the Revolutionary Health Workers' Union (Dev Sağlık-İş) did not give up their right to organise in hospitals.

 

DEMOCRATIC BUDGET DEMAND

 

Health labourers were in the fields throughout the year to shout out the problems they face. The labourers expressed their demands for the elimination of the destruction, restoration of their rights and "a humane life". The budget demand was one of the prominent topics. Statements were made at many points with the demand "We want a democratic people's budget in favour of labour".

 

NEWBORN GANG

 

The most important event that revealed the decay in the field of health within the year was the developments regarding the " Gang", which referred newborn babies to the neonatal units of private hospitals with which they had a prior agreement and caused the deaths of 21 babies. In Istanbul, an investigation was launched against the "Newborn Gang", which caused the deaths of babies who were referred to the intensive care units of private hospitals they had previously agreed with in order to gain profit from the Social Security Institution (SGK). Within the scope of the investigation Bakırköy Chief Public Prosecutor's Office prepared a 1399-page indictment against 47 defendants, 22 of whom are arrested. The defendants were charged with "Establishing an organisation for the purpose of committing a crime", "Committing intentional killing with negligent behaviour", "Fraud to the detriment of public institutions and organisations" and "Forgery of official documents". In December, 15 more people were detained and 11 of them were arrested.

 

WORK STOPPAGE BY FAMILY DOCTORS

 

Family doctors started a work stoppage action towards the end of the year. Family doctors started a 5-day work stoppage on 2 December for the withdrawal and cancellation of the Family doctors Contract and Regulation. During the action, they said: "The physical and medical equipment of primary health care services, which is a public service, and the ASM should be provided by the public. Sufficient time and opportunity should be provided for us to provide a qualified health service to our people. Until a system that prioritises preventive health services and observes the team approach is built, the number of FHCs should be increased so as not to exceed 2 thousand population per physician. We do not accept precarious and unstaffed employment in Family Medicine. Sufficient nurses, midwives and technicians should be assigned to ASMs according to the population structure, and vaccination and other preventive medicine practices should be supported and developed. Physicians, midwives, nurses and health labourers working in ASMs should be paid a salary consisting of a single item that will be reflected in retirement, sufficient to live humanely, which will not be deducted when they take leave, get sick, have a child or when a family member dies. Effective and deterrent measures should be taken to prevent violence rather than regulations that will increase violence in health, an effective violence law should be enacted and the safety of health workers should be ensured."

 

In line with these demands, family doctors, health workers and midwives will take action again on 6-10 January 2025.