Prime Minister, and formally health minister, Binyamin Netanyahu on Tuesday
night met with Israel Medical Association chairman Dr. Leonid Eidelman, Treasury
wage chief Ilan Levin, Deputy Health Minister Ya’acov Litzman and other
negotiators in the residents’ dispute to hear the various sides and try to help
find solutions.
Netanyahu requested that representatives of the medical
residents wait a few days to examine the suggestions that were raised during the
meeting, a joint statement by the Prime Minister’s Office, the IMA and
representatives of the residents said.
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Medical residents agree to postpone resignation by 48 hoursDuring the meeting, which lasted
over two hours, the representatives explained to the prime minister the
problematic nature of continuing the agreement and the working conditions. The
representatives promised they would respond to the prime minister’s
recommendations after they had consulted with the relevant
doctors.
Eidelman said after the meeting that in the meantime the prime
minister had not provided any solutions to the problem but had given various
options.
“We are still waiting for decisions to be made and we hope that
in the next few days there will be solutions,” he added.
Despite claims
that some medical residents were “so angry” they would resign on Tuesday – even
though their voluntary organization agreed to negotiate intensively through
Wednesday – all of them turned up at their jobs on Tuesday morning, the Health
Ministry reported.
Netanyahu requested representatives of the medical
residents wait a few days to examine the suggestions that were raised during the
meeting, a joint statement by the PMO, the IMA and representatives of the
residents said.
On Monday, all those involved were panicked, with the
ministry preparing the public for the possibility the dearth of residents in the
wards could lead to patient deaths.
Work was normal the day after the
crisis in which the resignation letters submitted over a month ago by more than
700 young residents were due to go into effect. It seemed as if both the
employers (including the government) and the residents were desperate to find a
sturdy ladder from which to climb down and find a compromise.
The Health
Ministry’s situation room in Jerusalem’s Talpiot quarter had nothing to do
except to hear the good news that there were no disruptions caused in the
hospitals where residents had threatened to resign.
At 11 p.m., Monday,
the National Labor Court persuaded both sides, as well as the IMA, to continue
negotiating under court auspices instead of the residents hanging up their
stethoscopes and permanently leaving their hospital workplaces.
The court
will hold another session on Thursday to hear the results of the negotiations,
which are being held in a good atmosphere.
Meanwhile, the Knesset Labor,
Social Affairs and Health Committee, which on Monday had scheduled an urgent
session to discuss the residents complaints on Wednesday, cancelled the session
on Tuesday without explanation.