Healthcare Workers' Union: "Missed the Patient Treatment Golden Time... Start Dialogue"

The Korean Health and Medical Workers' Union (KHMU) stated that patients and workers at training hospitals are being threatened due to the refusal of medical treatment and urged the government and medical organizations to resolve the situation.

In a press release on the 26th, KHMU said, "As the refusal of treatment by residents prolongs, patients are missing the golden time for treatment," adding, "Workers at training hospitals where residents work are also being directly impacted."

On the 11th, as collective actions by doctors centered around residents continue, a patient is waiting for medical treatment at a secondary general hospital in Seoul. Photo by Jinhyung Kang aymsdream@

They continued, "With training hospitals declaring emergency management, workers are being forced into unpaid leave, mandatory use of annual leave, and threatened with wage arrears," and claimed, "Nurses are also taking on doctors' duties, leading to excessive workloads and illegal medical practices."

They described the situation as a "personnel management crisis," expressing concern that "the refusal of treatment by residents is collapsing the normal medical workforce operation system, and tasks requiring high levels of expertise, skill, and responsibility are being disrupted, creating a precarious situation in medical settings where accidents could happen at any time."

Furthermore, KHMU emphasized, "There is nothing more urgent than normalizing medical treatment under the current circumstances," urging, "Residents should return unconditionally, and medical school professors must withdraw their plans for collective resignation."

They also called on the government to "completely halt coercive measures that are pushing doctors to the brink and initiate dialogue to find solutions to normalize treatment and revive essential and regional medical care," and urged training hospitals to "present measures to improve the poor working conditions and treatment environments of residents and medical school professors."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.