Overview
- Talks over a new national employment statute for doctors broke down after unions refused to negotiate with the Patients’ Organizations Platform (POP) acting as mediator.
- The Health Ministry backed POP’s role after regional health leaders urged using a mediator and told unions to name their own mediator if they reject POP.
- Unions said POP cannot be neutral because it represents those directly affected, asked for meetings to be recorded for transparency, and kept the April 27–30 strike on the calendar.
- Health Minister Mónica García accused unions of blocking progress and defended POP’s involvement, noting its use was agreed in the Interterritorial Health Council of the regions and the Ministry.
- The dispute keeps patients in limbo after months of canceled tests, visits and surgeries, while doctors press for a framework that lets them bargain specific working conditions under the proposed statute.