Istanbul Chamber of Physicians made a press declaration in front of the hospital building onFebruary 7, 2011 to support our colleagues striking against the conditions ofthe physicians who have not received their salaries for months while working at JFK Hospital that owned by Şafak HospitalsGroup and Marfin Investment Group (HYGEIA) partnership and at the otherhospitals.

Prof. Dr. TanerGören, President of Istanbul Chamber of Physicians, Dr. Lale Tırtıl and Dr.Hasan Oğan, Istanbul Chamber of Physicians Executive Board Members, Dr. PelinTaşkıran, Coordinator of Istanbul Chamber of Physicians Private Practice Committee and Dr. Osman Öztürk, Turkish Medical Association Central Council Member joined the meeting besides a large number of physicians working at JFK and other hospitals.

Prof. Dr. TanerGören, President of Istanbul Chamber of Physicians, stated in his speech thatthe physicians practicing at JFK for the sake of patients have not been paidfor months.   Besides, he said that thesalaries of the physicians have been usurped by giving lame excuses; the moneyearned by these hospitals is being utilized for the investments into differentsectors and this is unethical.

Prof. Gören remarkedthat this problem occurred in consequence of Health Transformation Program thathad been sped up in 2002 by AKP (Justice and Development Party) government. Healso clarified that Turkish Medical Association and its largest chamber; Istanbul Chamber of Physicians will closely monitor the issue.

Dr. Osman Öztürk,Turkish Medical Association Central Council Member, added, “This is anhistorical moment. This is the first time in which health services aren’tprovided in private practice since 1980 military coup, in other words, after 30years. The physicians are striking by using their forces of production, becausethey can’t get paid.”

Dr. Öztürk remindedthat Şafak Hospitals Group has been sold to a Greek investor, to MarfinInvestment Group (Hygeia). He stated depending upon the information from themeeting with hospital administration that the salaries didn’t paid due to theselling of the Hospital or similar excuses. Dr. Öztürk said they have got noresult through the interviews both within the country and abroad.

Dr. Öztürkhighlighted that Ministry of Health has to come up with a solution immediatelyto this issue and added: “There is an Health Minister serving for eight yearsand all of the health workers of the country are on the streets. This is anindicator of the circumstances of health workers emerged in consequence ofHealth Transformation Program.  Not onlythe health workers, but also the entire people are aggrieved. Measles casesthat have not occurred for many years began to climb again; one of our citizensdied due to diphtheria recently; 2.5-mount-old baby starved to death. No wordfrom Minister of Health. We, Turkish Medical Association and Istanbul Chamber of Physicians will be persistent to track either the Minister of Health or the Health Transformation Program.

Istanbul Chamber of Physicians Executive Board Member Dr. Tırtıl, who red the press declaration, stated that Istanbul Chamber of Physicians will continue the struggle againstsystematic usurpation of salaries at private sector and they gathered todeclare their determination. She added: “We support our colleagues who couldnot receive their payments for months. The salaries that they deserved have notbeen paid despite the meetings held with hospital administration for threemonths. The physicians have kept their promises and treated their patientsmeticulously. However, JFK hospital has broken its promise and has not paid thesalaries. Today, the physicians working in JFK Hospitalare hopeless and angry. Most significant obstacle that prevents thesephysicians from conducting good medical practice at the hospital is unkeptpromises by hospital owners. Today, the physicians will not examine thepatients and will not perform surgeries worrying about not ensuring goodmedical practice. We want to call public attention to the hospital administrationthat behaves disrespectfully towards the physicians, doesn’t pays the salariesthey deserved.”

PRESS RELEASE: Friday October 1, Immediate

BMA right to slam Lansley’s “deeply flawed” White Paper

Pro-NHS pressure group Heath Emergency today welcomed the shift of position by the BMA to open criticism of the coalition government’s controversial White Paper “Liberating the NHS”.

Health Emergency Director Dr John Lister published a widely publicised open letter to BMA Chair Hamish Meldrum early in August, warning that the doctors’ union could be making a “historic mistake” if it lent any support to Andrew Lansley’s proposals. He now says doctors are now right to have recognised some of the real dangers at the heart of the White Paper.

Among Mr Lansley’s proposals:

· GPs would take over the commissioning of £80 billion or more of services in England: the existing structure of local Primary Care Trusts and regional Strategic Health Authorities would be scrapped. And while some GPs have welcomed the potential influence they might gain from this, a growing number have recognised that they would first and foremost become responsible for carrying through £20 billion of “efficiency savings” which will require many unpopular cutbacks and closures by 2014.

· In addition GPs would either have to spend more time in bureaucratic meetings and administration – leaving less time to care for patients – or employ teams of managers or management consultants to take on this role, effectively creating a new NHS bureaucracy.

· The plan to replace 150 PCTs with 500-600 “consortiums” of GPs opens up the danger of a new “postcode lottery” in which patients in one area get less or greater access to services than their neighbours in another. And GPs in deprived areas are likely to find their concerns and their patients’ needs brushed aside as larger, better-resourced GP practices from more prosperous areas take control of consortia.

· To make matters worse, the drive towards privatisation would be accelerated, with plans to offer NHS contracts for patient care to bids from  “any willing provider” – whether for-profit or a non-profit “social enterprise”.

· And in another twist of privatisation, all existing NHS Trusts also obliged to become Foundation Trusts, while the law would be changed, lifting the present restrictions to allow Foundation Trusts to raise as much income as they wish from private patients: with their NHS funding frozen or falling, this means many top Foundation Trusts would focus their energies on attracting wealthy paying patients from home and abroad, rather than on NHS patients. NHS patients would become second class citizens.

Commenting on the BMA’s official response, which argues that the White Paper could undermine the “stability and future” of the NHS, Health Emergency’s John Lister said:

“The shift of stance by the BMA makes it clear that more and more GPs as well as hospital doctors are waking up to the many fundamental flaws at the very heart of this White Paper.

“Many are realising that with £20 billion of cuts to carry through they would not be “liberated” to commission better for their patients, but would instead be trapped in the role of rationing boards, deciding which patients to exclude from care, and which services to axe.

“The BMA’s critical stance now lines them up more closely with the TUC health unions, which have unanimously rejected the White Paper.

“But it’s not enough just to criticise Lansley’s proposals, which are driven by ideology rather than any evidence. It’s clear that this government takes no notice of criticism, and the so-called “consultation” is a sham. If the plans are as bad as the BMA now argues, there must be an active campaign to ensure they are dropped.

“There is no sign anywhere of significant public support for these proposals, which were revealed in July and have been largely ignored by the media over the summer. Wherever people hear of the full content of the proposals they are angry and opposed to them.

“The government has no mandate for these proposals. Both the Tories and LibDems deliberately opted NOT to put these ideas to the electorate in June – because they know full well that if they had, they would have been rejected.

“A combined campaign by all those who reject this commercialisation and privatisation of health care could now push the issue into the front line of political debate, and force the ConDem coalition to back off.”

FURTHER INFORMATION and analysis of Lansley’s White Paper, including a tabloid newspaper, is available at www.healthemergency.org.uk <http://www.healthemergency.org.uk/> .

·  Dr John Lister can be contacted on 07774 264112, or john.lister@virgin.net

Edificio Van Maerlant:

Van Maerlant Building (VMA1)

2, Rue Van Maerlant

1000 Bruxelles

The objective of the conference is to analyze the currentsituation of the right to health in EU regulations, the situation in thecountries of the European Unionand to propose a letter from the right to health of EUcitizens.

9 A.m.: Roundtable .- The right to health in EUregulations

11 A.m.: Roundtable .- .- The right to health in EUcountries

13 P.m.: Lunchbreak

14.30 P.m.: Roundtable: Proposed letter of right tohealth care for the

Europeans as / eas.

16.30 P.m.: Conclusions and closing

Organizers:

Federation of Associations for Defence of Public Health

Foundation for Health Research in Castilla La Mancha

International Association of Health Policy

Pre-registration is required.

Send the enclosed form to:

fadspu@gmail.com

REGISTRATION FORM:

BRUSSELS

October 20, 2010

CONFERENCE: THE RIGHT TO HEALTH OF THE CITIZENSOF THE EUROPEAN UNION

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