Angry patients took to the street, chanting ‘No patients, no doctors’ < Hospital < Article

Patient organizations on Thursday called on the medical community to call off mass shutdowns, saying “There are no doctors without patients.”

They urged the government and the National Assembly to enact a “recurrence prevention law” to ensure that essential medical treatment directly related to life can be provided without interruption during collective actions.

The Union of Korea Breast Cancer Patient, the Korea Alliance of Patient Organization, and the Korean Organization for Rare Diseases held a rally in downtown Seoul on Thursday, calling for enacting the “Act to repeal doctors’ collective leave and prevent recurrence.” (KBR photo)

The Union of Korea Breast Cancer Patient, the Korea Alliance of Patient Organization, and the Korean Organization for Rare Diseases held a rally in downtown Seoul to urge the government to enact the tentatively titled “Act to repeal doctors’ collective leaves and prevent recurrence.” About 300 patients and their families gathered at the event, according to police estimates.

They chanted slogans like “Cancel the mass furloughs and close the medical vacuum,” “No patients, no doctors. Stop the mass closure,” and “Legislate to prevent the recurrence of the healthcare void.”

The representatives of patient organizations who attended the rally criticized the government and the medical community for claiming to care for patients but turning patients into the biggest victims.

“Trainee doctors and medical students say they are victims. However, their damage is delays in obtaining specialist qualifications and medical licenses,” said Ahn Ki-jong who led the Korea Alliance of Patient Organization. “Patients are physically suffering from worsening diseases. The perpetrators are trainee doctors, medical school professors, and the Korean Medical Association (KMA), and the government has produced these perpetrators.”

“The government and the medical community are lying about ‘caring for patients,'” Ahn said. “Stop saying ‘caring for patients’ and be honest. The government should say it needs more medical schools to promote policies that fit the regime’s ideology, and the medical community should say it cannot accept an increase in medical students to avoid fiercer competition among doctors.”

“This is not a request but an order,” he said. “It is neither the parents of doctors nor the medical association that has given doctors the privilege to practice medicine under the Constitution and the Medical Service Act. It is the sovereign people of Korea. Stop the wasteful debate on the already confirmed 2025 medical school admissions quota and join the healthcare reform task force for the sake of doctors and patients.”

Kwak Jeom-sun, head of the Union of Korea Breast Cancer Patient, said, “When you became a doctor, you took the Hippocratic Oath to save patients, didn’t you? However, doctors who promised to save patients are killing them. A country can exist only when there are people, and doctors can exist only when there are patients. Medical people’s workplaces are hospitals, and their customers are patients. Doctors should return to the hospital as soon as possible. Lim Hyun-taek, president of the Korean Medical Association, has also urged doctors not to incite doctors anymore.”

From left, Ahn Ki-jong, head of the Korea Alliance of Patient Organization, Kwak Jeom-sun, head of the Union of Korea Breast Cancer Patient, and Kim Jung-ae, the guardian of a patient with Cornelia Drange Syndrome (KBR photo)

Kim Jung-ae, the guardian of Park Ha-eun, a patient with Cornelia Drange syndrome, said, “It was five months like 50 years,” urging doctors not to take patients’ lives hostage under the pretext of the government-doctor conflict.

“I met with KMA President Lim and Prime Minister Han Duck-soo and urged them to resolve the situation,” Kim said. “If these patients were your children, would you stand idly by and say, ‘I’m sorry’? Patients’ lives should not be used.

She continued, “What has the National Assembly done to solve the problem as the people’s representatives? Don’t just say that you are for the people. Right and wrong is a matter for the people to judge. The KMA should not just say that it has no choice but to close hospital doors under the pretext of a grand debate but talk to the government squarely for the sake of the trainee doctors. The government and the medical community should engage in a frank dialog. This is the people’s command.”

In a letter, the patients called on the professors to rescind the indefinite leave decision, demanding the enactment of a recurrence prevention law to ensure that essential life-critical medical care can be maintained even in the event of medical collective action, as well as improvements to the training environment for junior doctors.

“We have said that both doctors and medical professors were doing wrong,” they said. “However, the government pushed the doctors in the name of protecting patients, and the doctors turned to the patients, saying, ‘Why are you blaming doctors instead of the government?”

“Having seen the government raise the white flag in previous conflicts, the medical community still wields the weapon of the right to practice,” they said. “However, no matter what happens, the supply of medical care to the sick must not be interrupted. They should not foment unrest by signaling that medical supplies could be cut off.”

Representatives of patient organizations read a call to action, urging doctors to rescind collective shutdowns and the government to enact the tentatively titled Recurrence Prevention Act. (KBR photo)

After the rally, the leaders of the patient organizations visited Rep. Kang Sun-woo of the Democratic Party of Korea and Rep. Kim Mi-ae of the People Power Party of the National Assembly’s Health and Welfare Committee to deliver a plan that calls for enacting the recurrence prevention law. They will also release survey results investigating the change in trust between doctors and patients after the conflict.

“We want to limit the bill to essential medical care because there are unconstitutional elements that prevent doctors from striking,” Ahn said. “If a hospital union strikes, it will be required to maintain essential business under the Trade Union and Labor Relations Adjustment Act, and we want something similar to be included in the Medical Service Act.”

Ahn continued, “We will also visit lawmakers from the Rebuilding Korea Party and the Reform Party. The patient survey will run until next Monday. We expect more than 1,000 patients to participate. Once the survey results are available, we will hold a parliamentary debate based on them.”

About 300 patients and their caregivers from across the country attended the rally, according to police estimates. (KBR photo)

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