Metges de Catalunya has extended the "Not one minute more" campaign to primary care centers, which will now be called "Not one minute more, not one more forced visit," and maintains the strike call for June 17. Professionals who join will cease all non-mandatory forced activity and any task that exceeds the workloads set in a 2018 agreement.
Pressure is thus transferred to primary care at a time when the Departament de Salut itself admits doctors' concern about healthcare pressure, on-call duties, work-life balance, and clinical autonomy, but refuses to link negotiations to the strike call. This is the central friction of the conflict, with a union denouncing permanent overload and structural staff shortages against an administration defending the agreements and investments of recent years.
The campaign added 121 services from 34 hospital centers
Until now, the initiative had achieved the adherence of 121 services from 34 centers in the Catalan public and subsidized network in the hospital sector. With the extension to primary care, the union seeks to bring the same dynamic of rejection of tasks it considers imposed beyond the agreed workload.
In practice, the slogan is to not assume forced activity that is not mandatory or work that exceeds what was set in the 2018 agreement. Metges de Catalunya maintains that primary care suffers from constant overload and that population growth has not been accompanied by an equivalent reinforcement of doctors.
The union proposes the campaign as a means of pressure to open negotiations with the Departament de Salut on fundamental solutions for primary care and for the public healthcare system as a whole. The new strike day called for June 17 is part of this strategy.
Salut offers to negotiate, but not based on the strike
Faced with this escalation, the Departament de Salut acknowledges the need to address changes and assures that it maintains an open hand to listen to demands at negotiation tables. The department, however, specifies that this dialogue is not proposed as a response to a strike.
Salut also admits a climate of concern among professionals due to healthcare pressure, the organization of on-call duties, the difficulty in reconciling work and personal life, and the need to strengthen clinical autonomy. At the same time, it defends that in recent years it has promoted agreements, investments, and measures aimed at improving the working and professional conditions of the medical collective.
As an example of these measures, the department cites the III Agreement of the Institut Català de la Salut signed by SATSE, UGT, CCOO, and Metges de Catalunya. This pact incorporated an increase of over 30% in the price of an on-call hour, in addition to changes in working hours, rest periods, and pay supplements.