ANKARA
A bunch of amendments planned to alter a decree law what the public know as the “Full Day Law”, which regulates the working conditions of physicians employed in public services and a series of other laws have been given a green light at a parliamentary commission on Friday.
Following the latest amendments – if accepted as law after vote at a general assembly session of the parliament - state officials, officers, non-commissioned officers and military students will not be able to open private offices, bureaus and surgeries or work for universities owned by funds; healthcare personnel could be called back to hospital or healthcare center after official working hours.
Professors and assistant professors who do not have positions at higher education institutions will be able to work at medical or dentistry faculties as personnel on contract. Contracts of university academicians who work at places other than higher education institutions during after hours will be terminated if they do not end their activities within three months that follow the publication of the amendment on the official gazette.
The amendment will also make possible the contract-based employment of professors and assistant professors at Gulhane Military Medical Academy (GATA).
Circumcision, with the amended law, will only be performed by doctors.
Full Day Law is a law (known as "Tam gün yasası") which prohibits state doctors from being employed at a university or a state hospital and a private practice at the same time.
Before the Full Day Law was implemented in October 2011 by the government many doctors who were employed at state and university hospitals would work half-days at those institutions and half-days at private practices.
The law imposes that doctors employed at university hospitals must work a full day in their state positions. However, once the law was in effect, a number of doctors resigned from their state jobs in order to work in their private clinics which were opposed by several university hospitals. Failures occurred in health services due to inadequate number of doctors. However, Turkish Health Ministry is aiming to prevent doctors from resigning and also says treatment and medical education in universities have been affected since the law was put into effect.
The ministry expects to raise doctor productivity and regain beneficial doctors who resigned by some amendments in the law by discussing the issue with representatives of the medical community.
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