Medical Residents Block Tel Aviv Road, Protest 26-hour Shifts

By JPost
Posted on 10/09/21 | News Source: JPost

Medical doctors, residents, interns and students marched in Tel Aviv on Saturday night to protest the government’s decision to continue 26-hour shifts for most doctors.
The residents claim that if the current suggestions are implemented, only 10 percent of doctors will see their shifts cut down, as the outline only include hospitals in the periphery and only in certain professions.
The 26-hour shifts are harmful to doctors and patients alike, claim the protesters, who demand a setup of 18-hour shifts be implemented across the country.
"Twenty-six, Nitzan, be ashamed," chanted the crowds as they blocked the entryway to the house of Health Minister Nitzan Horowitz, who refused to come out to speak to the demonstrators.
The outline, approved by the Health, Finance and Economy ministries in the past few days, was rejected by the representatives of the medical residents.The plan entails, over the course of five years, a decrease of shifts from 26 hours to 16 hours plus two overlapping hours.