Turkish Parliament passes full time working bill for health workers

Turkish Parliament on Thursday passed a bill requiring a full workday for university and health personnel.

Under the bill, publicly known as "Full Time Law Draft", instructors in Medical Faculties of the universities, will also work full time.

The law says instructors working in universities would not be able to work in other places but in other universities for money or free of charge.

The Full Workday Law prohibits doctors working at public institutions from working at their own private practices or those of other private institutions. It also introduces a performance evaluation system for faculty members who work at university hospitals, to match the system currently in place at state hospitals. While it foresees a partial rise in overtime rates, it prohibits medical school faculty members from working at private institutions. It does, however, pave the way for members of medical school faculties to work at other public hospitals under the Health Ministry.

The enacting of the bill would also mean that university hospitals would no longer be able to charge patients extra fees for certain procedures and surgeries. The bill would in addition outlaw the practice of allowing faculty members to work at foundations and associations.

Currently, top doctors at university hospitals frequently work half-days at the hospitals and half days at their own private clinics -- where they earn the bulk of their income.

Throughout the country, doctors joined strikes organized by the Turkish Doctors Union (TTB) and 10 other health organizations to protest the bill that would require a full workday for doctors employed by universities and state hospitals, as opposed to the current half-time system.

/World Bulletin/