BarcelonaA multitude of white coats demonstrated this Monday morning on Sardenya street in Barcelona, in the vicinity of the Sagrada Familia, to demand – for the tenth time since autumn – a health agreement that exclusively regulates the conditions of doctors. In front of dozens of disoriented tourists who were also photographing the protest, half a thousand doctors have once again demanded improvements in working conditions from both the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Health, whom they accuse of ignoring their demands. “We will maintain the pressure to the limit of our strength,” stated the union’s general secretary, Xavier Lleonart.

The demonstration, called by the majority union Metges de Catalunya, began at the Hospital de la Santa Creu i Sant Pau and ended in front of the basilica with one objective: to present their demands to the presidencies of Catalonia and the State, considering that “it is time for the presidents” and that both Pedro Sánchez and Salvador Illa must get involved to resolve a conflict that “has stalled” due to the negotiation of the Framework Statute, said Lleonart.

The Ministry of Health has reported a 5.2% adherence during the morning of the doctors’ strike in the public health system centers (Siscat), and Lleonart has admitted that there is “a certain degree of wear and tear” and that it is “normal” for professionals not to be able to afford to strike again. However, he warned that they are “fiercely opposed” to the Ministry of Health and the Generalitat, as they are “turning a deaf ear” to their demands.

For Lleonart, the Minister of Health, Mónica García, “has already resigned from being a minister,” after announcing on Saturday that she wants to be the candidate for Más Madrid in the next regional elections. On the other hand, he recalled that the Minister of Health, Olga Pané, is on leave. Therefore, he insisted that the responsibility now lies with the presidents. “I am aware that Sánchez received a letter today from the strike committee urging him to take the bull by the horns, and in the coming days we will also ask Illa to, considering that he has a minister on leave, take the lead in the negotiation,” he stated.

35 hours and voluntary on-call shifts

During the tour in Barcelona, protesters have passed by different health centers, such as the Fundació Puigvert, and have displayed banners with messages like “Vocation is not exploitation” or “Fewer ties and more gowns”. Behind a large banner that read “It affects you too”, professionals have moved to the front of the basilica, where they have built a trencadís with the message “Medical agreement now”. Mostly, medical protests are based on the need for their own Framework Statute, the reduction of working hours to 35 hours and the improvement of the pay for on-call duties, as well as them being voluntary and counting towards retirement.

“Why do the rest of healthcare professionals have 35 or 37-hour workweeks and doctors can reach more than 45 hours?”, complained Manel, a protester and pediatrician in primary care. “We have lives in our hands and when a doctor is working a 24-hour on-call shift, no matter how much will they have, they can make mistakes”, warned Esther. At the end of the tour, the doctors read the manifesto, in which they criticized the healthcare model and the lack of negotiation by the administration. “We have been dragging an exhausted model for too long. We have endured unmanageable workloads, imposed decisions, and a lack of structural recognition for too long. We have been asked for sacrifice for too long while being denied a voice”.

This Monday’s strike by Catalan doctors coincides with a four-day national strike due to the group’s confrontation with the Ministry of Health regarding the Framework Statute for Healthcare Professionals. Metges de Catalunya supports this protest – it has joined the strike committee of the Spanish Confederation of Medical Unions (CESM) – but wants to directly address the Department of Health with its demands because it asserts that the ministry has the authority to introduce improvements in working conditions.

Mónica García: “They don’t want to negotiate”

The state committee has also demanded this Monday that the Spanish Prime Minister, Pedro Sánchez, “immediately” assume the negotiation to unblock the conflict of this group against the Framework Statute of the Ministry of Health because its head, Mónica García, is not “a valid interlocutor”. “This conflict already exceeds the ministry: it is a matter of government,” it emphasizes in a statement. According to the doctors, the sustainability of the system, the working conditions of doctors, and the quality of care require decisions that “go beyond a ministry that has proven incapable of addressing them.” “After 16 days of strike and more than a dozen meetings without real progress, the committee considers that the conflict has reached a decisive point: there will be no end without real negotiation or effective solution,” they stress.

The minister responded to the doctors by assuring that “red lines” are being crossed with “illegal” demands which, far from seeking labor improvements for doctors and medical staff, respond to other “interests” to “keep the conflict alive.” “I cannot say yes to a strike committee that asks me to do illegal things or to invade other competencies or to transgress other laws. And when someone comes to a negotiation table and sets illegal things as red lines, they don’t want to negotiate,” she concluded.