The 20th Medical Issues Consultative Body Meeting Held
Ministry of Health and Welfare "Concern Over Medical Association's Strike Vote Assuming Negotiation Breakdown"
Medical Association "Policy Should Not Be Decided by Public Opinion"
As the Korean Medical Association announced a strike vote and warned of a tough struggle, the government officially brought the issue of increasing medical school admissions to the negotiation table. Both sides also discussed the issue of alleviating the legal burden of medical malpractice in essential medical services.
Jung Kyung-sil, Director of Health and Medical Policy at the Ministry of Health and Welfare, stated at the 20th Medical Issues Consultative Body meeting held on the afternoon of the 6th at Conference House Dalgaebi in Jung-gu, Seoul, "An important issue that must be discussed along with the policy package is the expansion of the physician workforce," adding, "From today, we will discuss based on scientific evidence and statistics how many doctors are needed in the mid-to-long term and which fields and regions are lacking personnel."
During the meeting, both sides engaged in a mild confrontation over the KMA’s strike vote. Earlier, on the 4th, the KMA held a meeting of the 'Special Committee for Countermeasures of the Medical Community to Prevent the Collapse of Korean Healthcare (Beomdaeui)' and decided to conduct a nationwide strike vote among all members starting from the 11th.
Director Jung said, "I heard that the Korean Medical Association plans to conduct a third vote among all members while the consultative body is actively discussing medical school expansion and the policy package," and pointed out, "As a party to the negotiations, I am concerned whether they are approaching the talks with the assumption of a breakdown."
On the other hand, the KMA countered that the rationale for increasing medical school admissions is unscientific. Yang Dong-ho, head of the KMA negotiation team, said, "The government stated that one reason for increasing medical school admissions is that the majority of the public wants more doctors," and criticized, "I don’t think important policies such as education or healthcare should be decided based on public opinion. If a poll asked the public to reduce all their taxes, would the government do so?"
Yang added, "Doctors have very few ways to raise their voices against public authority," and urged, "We ask the government once again for cooperation so that doctors can fulfill their roles for the people and the nation in their original positions."
Both sides discussed ways to ease the legal responsibility for medical malpractice in essential medical fields during the consultative body meeting. Director Jung said, "Doctors say the burden of civil and criminal lawsuits they must bear when medical accidents occur despite their best efforts to save patients’ lives is too great," and added, "We will discuss reasonable measures that consider both doctors and patients in a balanced way."
Yang referred to the case where medical staff in the neonatal intensive care unit at Ewha Mokdong Hospital were detained and the case where an emergency medicine resident in Daegu was sentenced to probation, pointing out, "This has instilled fear and terror in essential medical workers that they could be detained anytime if a patient under their care dies." He argued, "When unavoidable medical accidents occur, instead of protecting the doctors, legal detention and huge compensation claims are driving doctors away from essential medical fields."
Yang emphasized the need to reduce the legal burden on essential medical personnel. He urged, "If medical staff have done their best to treat patients, they should not bear the burden for unavoidable medical accidents," and called for "creating a stable medical environment where essential medical workers can devote themselves to treatment with the sole intention of saving patients without other worries."
Meanwhile, besides Director Jung, the meeting was attended by Song Yang-su, Director of Medical Workforce Policy, and Lim Kang-seop, Director of Nursing Policy at the Ministry of Health and Welfare. From the KMA side, Jeonbuk Medical Association President Kim Jong-gu, Park Hyung-wook, Legal Director of the Korean Academy of Medical Sciences, and Park Dan, President of the Korean Intern Resident Association, were present.
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