The Ministry of Health has added an extra strand to its reform of the Medical Framework Statute (which has triggered strikes across the country and criticism from across the ideological spectrum within the profession), focusing on the working conditions of MIR doctors, Spain’s resident physicians.
According to the announcement by Minister García, who will stand as Más Madrid’s candidate for the Madrid region, the ministry plans to cut MIR and other specialists’ 24-hour on-call shifts to a maximum of 17 hours, with no more than four such shifts a month (up to 68 hours a month) and without a standard working day afterwards; set ordinary working hours at 35 a week; improve their pay supplements (rising with years of experience) and ensure that they are informed of their rotations two months in advance.
Medical sources warn that this last point will be difficult to meet, as even many senior doctors in some departments do not know their rotas that far ahead. If it goes ahead, they stress, it would completely change day-to-day life in large hospitals, which currently depend on the overuse and exploitation of MIR residents, and it would create unequal conditions between experienced professionals and trainees.
