SIGNS OF STRAIN. A doctor enters an emergency room at a hospital in Seoul, in this file photo taken March 19, 2024. Deputy Health Minister Jun Byung-wang on Tuesday said emergency departments of major general hospitals have shown continued signs of strains as mass walkout of junior doctors, in protest to the planned hike in medical school enrolment, have entered its seventh week. (Yonhap)
SEOUL – Emergency departments at major general hospitals have shown increasing signs of strain, a senior official said Tuesday, as junior doctors’ mass walkout to protest the planned hike in medical school admissions entered its seventh week.
The number of major emergency rooms that are partially limiting their treatment of critically ill patients rose to 14 in the final week of March, up from 10 in the first week of the month, Deputy Health Minister Jun Byung-wang told reporters.
That means that the number of major emergency departments that are unable to treat at least one of 27 critical health problems, including heart attacks and brain hemorrhages, has increased.
There are 44 major emergency departments in South Korea.
"There are signs that the prolonged collective action has somewhat impacted the capabilities of the medical system," Jun said.
About 12,000 trainee doctors have been on strike in the form of mass resignations since Feb. 20, with medical professors having submitted resignations in support of the walkout.
Medical professors, who are senior doctors at major hospitals, also began cutting their working hours Monday to cope with growing fatigue caused by the protracted walkout by junior doctors.
The deputy minister said health authorities plan to deploy all available personnel, including military and retired doctors, to sustain the health care system.
He said the government remains open to talks with doctors if they come up with a unified and reasonable solution to resolve the impasse over the reform to hike the number of medical students by 2,000 per year.
The statement followed remarks a day earlier by President Yoon Suk Yeol that doctors need to come up with a "unified proposal" on the appropriate increase in medical school admissions.
However, Yoon said a hike of 2,000 medical students is the minimum, vowing not to back down from the number.
"The government is willing to engage in discussions with an open mind if the medical community proposes unified and more rational measures based on scientific evidence and logic while discontinuing the collective action," Jun told reporters.
"We hope doctors deliver their opinion in a rational manner while protecting their patients,” he said.
Yoon's office said later Tuesday said the president is open to a meeting with trainee doctors.
"There are many organizations in the medical community, but President Yoon Suk Yeol would like to meet with trainee doctors, who are directly involved in the collective action, and hear what they have to say," Yoon's office said in a message sent to the media. "The presidential office is always open to people."
Earlier in the day, a group representing medical professors called on the president and a representative of trainee doctors to sit down for talks "without preconditions." (Yonhap)
