With almost no time to gather strength after the wear and tear of the previous strike, the Madrid Ministry of Health and the Hospital Care Physician Strike Committee are meeting this Tuesday to try to reach an agreement that paralyzes the strikes called as of Wednesday by the Amyts union and the Association of Medical Specialists of Madrid (AFEM). From the Community, however, they slip to La Vanguardia their confidence in being able to solve this conflict much faster than that of the Primary Care group.

The meeting will take place from 12:00 noon at the headquarters of the General Directorate of Human Resources of the Madrid Health Service (Sermas), at number 6 Calle Sagasta, and also comes when last week it was possible to put an end to the strike of Primary Care doctors and paediatricians after almost four months of strikes.

The Amyts union and the Association of Specialist Physicians of Madrid maintain in any case a calendar of future protests that contemplates one day of unemployment per month until next October and that would start this Wednesday, March 22. Specifically, it would affect more than 12,000 medical professionals from the hospitals attached to Sermas, the Alcorcón Foundation University Hospital, the Fuenlabrada University Hospital and the Central Radiodiagnostic Unit (UCR).

The meeting will take place after a last meeting between the two parties, on the 15th, in which positions were approached in what was the first meeting after the strikes on March 1 and 2. At this meeting, the strike committee put on the table a decalogue of demands that contemplate four urgent implementation measures, including a 35-hour workday, and another six that could be negotiated for the next legislature.

After the appointment, from the strike committee it was indicated that some issues are pending “a more specific pronouncement” by the Ministry of Finance of Javier Fernández-Lasquetty, although in general terms they appreciated “goodwill”.