Return to work now: The government has told striking junior doctors to think of their patients and their future careers. — AFP
THE government will take final steps to suspend the licenses of striking junior doctors next week as they refuse to end their weeks-long walkouts that have burdened the country’s medical services, officials said yesterday.
More than 90% of the country’s 13,000 medical interns and residents have been on strike for about a month to protest the government’s plan to sharply increase medical school admissions. Their strikes have caused hundreds of cancelled surgeries and other treatments at hospitals.
Officials say it is urgent to have more doctors because South Korea has a rapidly aging population and its doctor-to-population ratio is one of the lowest in the developed world. But doctors say schools can’t handle an abrupt, steep increase in students, and that it would ultimately undermine the country’s medical services.
The government has been taking a series of administrative steps required to suspend their licenses after they missed a government-set, Feb 29 deadline to return to work. The steps include sending officials to formally confirm the absences of strikers, informing them of possible license suspensions and giving them chances to respond.
Vice-Health Minister Park Min-soo said that the government is expected to complete those steps for some of the striking doctors next week and will send them notices about its final decision to suspend their licenses.
Park earlier said that under South Korea’s medical law, the striking doctors could face at a minimum three-month suspensions and even indictments by prosecutors for refusing the government’s back-to-work order.
He urged the striking doctors to return to work immediately, suggesting those who end their strikes could receive softer punishments.
“They should return as soon as possible not only for patients but also for their future careers. This kind of exhaustive walkout from hospitals must not continue any longer,” Park said.
It’s unclear whether and how many striking doctors would return to their hospitals at the last minute. According to Park, none of the strikers who were informed of their possible license suspension has responded.
Senior doctors at major university hospitals recently decided to submit resignations next week in support of the junior doctors. Still, most of them will likely continue to report to work.
The striking junior doctors account for less than 10% of South Korea’s 140,000 doctors. But in some major hospitals, they represent about 30%-40% of the doctors, assisting senior doctors during surgeries and dealing with inpatients while training.
The government aims to increase the country’s medical school enrolment cap by 2,000 starting next year, from the current cap of 3,058 that has been unchanged since 2006. — AP
