SEOUL, March 11 — South Korea said today it had started procedures to suspend the medical licences of 4,900 junior doctors who have resigned and stopped working to protest...
South Korea said today it had started procedures to suspend the medical licences of 4,900 junior doctors who have resigned and stopped working to protest government medical training reforms, causing healthcare chaos. — AFP picSEOUL, March 11 — South Korea said today it had started procedures to suspend the medical licences of 4,900 junior doctors who have resigned and stopped working to protest government medical training reforms, causing healthcare chaos.
Nearly 12,000 junior doctors — 93 per cent of the trainee workforce — were not in their hospitals at the last count, despite government back to work orders and threats of legal action, forcing Seoul to mobilise military medics and millions of dollars in state reserves to help. The government has previously warned striking doctors they face a three-month suspension of their licences, a punishment which, it says, will delay by at least a year their ability to qualify as specialists.“The government will take into account the circumstance and protect trainee doctors if they return to work before the administrative measure is complete,” he said, indicating doctors who come back to work now could avoid the punishment.
The strikes have led to surgery cancellations, long wait times and delayed treatments at major hospitals.