South Korea raises vigilance against possible healthcare disruption

Seoul, Aug 25: South Korean healthcare authorities on Sunday discussed ways to minimise possible fallout from a looming strike by a nationwide union of nurses and medical workers next week.

On Saturday, members of the Korean Health and Medical Workers’ Union, which has some 30,000 nurses and medical workers at 61 hospitals as members, voted in favor of a strike plan over calls for an improvement in working conditions.

If an ongoing arbitration by the labor relations committee fails, the unionised workers plan to launch simultaneous strikes on Thursday, reports Yonhap news agency.

In an interagency meeting of health care-related authorities chaired by Health Minister Cho Kyoo-hong, officials discussed measures to minimise the inconvenience to the public’s access to medical services if the planned strike by union proceeds, according to officials.

At the meeting, officials emphasised that even if the strike proceeds, essential medical services, such as emergency rooms, intensive care units and surgeries, must continue to operate as required by the related labour union laws.

The government said it will work closely with local governments to continuously monitor whether essential services are being maintained to ensure that there are no disruptions to critical care.

In the event of a strike, the government plans to maintain a 24-hour emergency medical system at emergency centres to ensure uninterrupted care for emergency patients. Additionally, emergency medical services will be reinforced, focusing on public medical institutions that do not participate in the strike.

Last week, Kyoo-hong pledged to take stern measures against attempts to obstruct junior doctors’ return to hospitals. The health minister also urged resigned junior doctors to apply for the new recruitment procedures.

Hospitals have announced new recruitment notices for trainee doctors following a lacklustre response from the medical community to the initial round, with some medical professors warning of a boycott of the training of new applicants.