Health personnel should live within 30 minutes travel time of hospital: Circular
Mesude Erşan – ANKARA
Health personnel should live within 30 minutes travel time of the hospital they work at, the Turkish Health Ministry said in a circular to local health authorities, stressing on the importance of quick intervention in the event of emergencies.
“The health personnel should abide by the legal provision that they be at the health institution in 30 minutes under normal transportation circumstances,” it said.
Deputy Health Minister Muhammed Güven said local authorities should follow that the measure is being implemented and administrative and disciplinary action should be against personnel not abiding by the circular.
But health personnel are disgruntled by the new regulation.
The president of the Turkish Medical Association (TTB), Prof. Dr. Sinan Adıyaman, said the circular was “against the constitution.”
“The presidential decree is shown as the base of the circular, and the circular says ‘abide by the legal provision.’ But there is no such legal provision. This regulation had been previously cancelled by the Constitutional Court and the ministry had retreated,” he said.
The general-secretary of the Istanbul Chamber of Medicine has similarly reacted against the circular. “The implementation of this circular is not possible. If health personnel are to be forced into living in places close to hospitals, firstly the necessary financial regulations need to be made, including providing housing or rent subsidy,” said Dr. Osman Öztürk.
“This regulation is not realistic. In Istanbul you cannot travel from one place to another in less than an hour. Personnel try to live as close as they can to their workplaces anyway. But if this circular is implemented with repercussions, it would be unfair. Health personnel rush to their workplaces in emergency situations anyway,” he said.
