Turkish Medical Association survey finds 87 pct of health workers exposed to violence

Duvar English

The survey “Doctors’ Assessment of Working Conditions, Financial Problems, and Violence” conducted by the Turkish Medical Association (TTB) found that 87 percent of healthcare workers answered “Yes” when asked if they were subjected to verbal or physical violence by a patient or their relatives. 

TTB chair Şebnem Korur Fincancı on Dec. 29 assessed the survey findings in the association headquarters in the capital Ankara province. Fincancı commented that increased exposure to violence drew doctors out of Turkey.  

“The Justice and Development Party (AKP) has handed over the health sector to capital,” she said.

TTB official Alican Bahadır stated that the survey was administered from November through December to 1502 doctors, 79 percent of whom were TTB members. Bahadır added that the survey was an attempt to assess whether the “White Reform” promoted by Health Minister Fahrettin Koca achieved its alleged success, according to reporting by the Mesopotamia Agency.  

The survey asked whether doctors found they could not properly care for their patients due to the intensity of their work environment, 64 percent of participants answered “Yes.” 

Doctors who experienced verbal or physical violence from their patients or patients’ relatives rose to 87 percent. 59 percent of responders stated they experienced violence in the past year. In the 2021 survey, 83 percent of participants had stated they experienced violence.

The survey asked, “If you were subjected to verbal or physical violence, have you used Code White or filed a complaint to authorities?” Only 36 percent of participants answered “Yes,” compared to the 43 percent received in the September 2021 survey.

91 percent of respondents stated that they felt authorities did not provide them with a work environment safe from violence. 

The results indicated that the White Reform did not resolve the problems of doctors and the healthcare system, according to TTB representative Bahadır. 

TTB chair Fincancı stated that one in two doctors either considered leaving Turkey to practice medicine abroad or quitting the profession altogether.

Vice president Ali İhsan Ökten warned that 2024 would present even harder working conditions for Turkey’s doctors if the Health Ministry did not collaborate with all trade organizations and unions including TTB in deliberations.