Metges de Catalunya has activated this Monday the campaign "Not one more minute" so that physicians stop performing care activities outside their ordinary and mandatory working hours. The measure has already been seconded by 50 services in 20 public and subsidized hospitals, with adhesions in centers in Barcelona such as Vall d'Hebron, Parc Sanitari Sant Joan de Déu, and Hospital Sant Joan de Déu.
The paradox that the campaign poses is at the heart of the conflict. The healthcare system continues to function, in part, with doctors who extend their work beyond the required hours, to the point where some specialists can accumulate 3,000 hours a year between ordinary work, on-call duties, and overtime, double the annual total of a full-time job.
Fifty services in 20 hospitals have already stopped taking on hours outside of their shifts
The union links the campaign to the lack of dialogue with the Department of Health to improve the working conditions of medical staff. Metges de Catalunya maintains that this absence of negotiation has led to the conflict being transferred to the daily functioning of the centers.
For now, adherence is concentrated in public and subsidized hospitals in various health regions, with a notable presence in Barcelona. This list includes Vall d'Hebron, Parc Sanitari Sant Joan de Déu, and Hospital Sant Joan de Déu, three of the centers with the greatest referral capacity.
"The doctors have had enough because they are not willing to continue propping up the system with their overexertion" - Xavier Lleonart, Secretary General, Metges de Catalunya
Xavier Lleonart also defined the response to the campaign as an absolute success. The organization maintains that the current care burden is not slowing down the progressive deterioration of the public health system.
Tarragona and Terres de l'Ebre have not joined, but may notice referrals
No hospital in the regions of Tarragona and Terres de l'Ebre has joined the campaign so far. Even so, the effect may reach those territories if patient referrals to reference centers in other health regions that do participate in the measure increase.
This possible indirect impact adds pressure to a network already strained by the extension of shifts and on-call duties. The union frames the initiative within a broader cycle of mobilizations, with eleven strike days called since autumn.
Furthermore, Metges de Catalunya maintains a new strike call scheduled for June, although without a defined date yet. The most concrete data the union uses to justify the protest is that some specialists reach a total of 3,000 hours of work per year between ordinary activity, on-call duties, and overtime.