Public healthcare in Madrid faces a new peak of tension. Medical professionals have started the fifth week of protests, a strike targeting the preliminary draft of the new Framework Statute approved by the Council of Ministers. The medical staff are demanding specific and differentiated statutory regulations for their profession.
This current call for action, following one-week mobilizations in February, March, April, and May, will continue uninterrupted until Friday, June 19. The central event of the protests is scheduled for today with a national demonstration in front of the Ministry of Health. For the upcoming days, the union Amyts has designed a schedule of 10:00 AM gatherings, which will take place on Tuesday at the 12 de Octubre Hospital, on Wednesday at Puerta de Hierro in Majadahonda, on Thursday at the Ministry of Health, and on Friday at Ramón y Cajal.
Organizing committees have confirmed that this will be the last week of strikes until September, having agreed to a summer truce to avoid further straining the healthcare system during the summer months, a period that is traditionally challenging due to vacations and a structural shortage of professionals for public network coverage.
The resumption of strikes follows the government's validation of the legal text, originally agreed upon by the Ministry of Health and the sectoral table unions. While the state Strike Committee and the Autonomous Communities demand a national pact led by Minister Mónica García, the Health Minister has deflected responsibility, stating that management competencies lie with the autonomies and urging them to address claims regarding the implementation of the 35-hour work week or the reduction of 24-hour on-call shifts.
The cumulative impact on healthcare services in the region is critical. The Ministry of Health of the Community of Madrid estimates the direct economic damage from the strike at 16,456,119 euros since its inception in December. The paralysis in administrative and clinical services has so far resulted in the forced suspension of 10,470 surgical procedures, 215,344 specialist outpatient appointments, and a total of 21,733 postponed diagnostic tests, as part of a broader strike affecting hospitals, Primary Care centers, and MIR personnel, whose minimum service levels have been denounced by unions as abusive.
