(CNN) --
A tide of white coats has swept through the center of the Spanish capital this Wednesday to demand labor and care improvements for the more than 14,000 doctors who work in hospitals in the Community of Madrid.
More than 1,000 people participated in the march, according to estimates by the organizing unions Association of Physicians and Higher Graduates of Madrid (AMYTS) and the Association of Medical Specialists of Madrid (AFEM).
According to the Police, 700 attendees were registered.
Shouting "shame" and "we are not going to stop, we are defending our healthcare", those present raised their voices to request improvements in their jobs given the overload of patients who claim to be facing the covid-19 pandemic, as well as acknowledge your exhaustion after years of overexertion.
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Among other measures, the doctors from the hospitals in Madrid who participated in this march asked the Community Health Department to limit their working hours to 35 hours a week, to put an end to 24-hour shifts and to increase the hourly payment of these, as well as having at least 10 minutes to care for each patient.
The demonstration has joined the strike organized by the same unions, who encouraged health professionals to join a two-day strike with the aim of having their demands met.
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When consulted by CNN, the AMYTS union estimates that 70% of hospital professionals have joined the strike.
This figure would include physicians who do not have the right to strike since the Community of Madrid Health Department established minimum services that do not exceed 35% for the two days of strike.
However, from the Ministry of Health of the Community of Madrid they told CNN that the figure would be reduced to 9% of all those summoned.
meeting without agreement
This Tuesday, in the hours before the demonstration and the start of the two-day strike, representatives of the unions met with the Health Minister of the Community of Madrid, Enrique Ruiz Escudero, to raise their claims.
Despite the fact that Escudero promised to study them, that did not serve to call off the protest calls from the unions.
In a message posted this Tuesday on his Twitter account, Escudero said that “the Ministry of Health continues to present solutions with labor responses.
Let's hope that the unions give a labor response and not a political one”.
A stressed public health
These two days of hospital strike coincide with the indefinite strike of family doctors and pediatricians from primary care centers, which the AMYTS union called on November 21, 2022.
With these 100 days of protest they intend to expose a situation of care overload, request greater funding with which to retain professionals who prefer to go to other autonomous communities and more time to dedicate to each patient.
These requests have been transferred by the representatives of the unions to the Ministry of Health throughout various meetings held during this time, although without reaching any specific agreement.
From the Ministry of Health of the Community of Madrid, they assured CNN that 6.06% of family doctors and pediatricians in primary care would continue on strike until this Wednesday.
Health, the main problem in the region
In a survey carried out by the Community of Madrid and presented on December 22, 46.9% of the population of Madrid declared that, on a personal level, health is the main problem facing the Autonomous Community.
It is located well ahead of concerns about the economic situation and inflation, which 19.1% of the population see as the main problem in the region on a personal level.
Health informationMadrid