London – The Jordanian government must find urgent and radical solutions to the poor working conditions experienced by junior doctors who frequently work long unpaid hours, said ImpACT International for Human Rights Policies..
Most doctors enrolled as unpaid junior residents in Jordan complain of a lack of personal development programmes leaving them vulnerable to exploitation in local hospitals; and not allowing them the opportunity to develop the specialist skills needed to enhance their careers, ImpACT said in a press release issued on Thursday.
The number of medical graduates far exceeds the number of paid positions available annually in Jordan’s hospitals, forcing many to seek unpaid training programmes, ImpACT added.
This continued pressure on junior doctors, many of whom work in the front line, forcing them to work for extended hours without rest or motivation, would contribute to a poorer quality of service which could result in medical errors potentially threatening individual rights to life and health
Unpaid junior doctors are distributed among the Kingdom's hospitals, private and general hospitals, and in the Ministry of Health, where several doctors reported that working conditions would contravene their basic rights. These include having to work for upto 14 hour shifts without pay.
S.A, a resident doctor in a teaching hospital, said doctors suffer long shifts, low wages, few weekends, holidays or official leave. Maternity leave for female residents is limited.
The doctor described their work in the hospitals as akin to a “Corvée work system” (forced labor) as work without pay for maybe 90-100 hours per week without social security or health insurance.
Although a few receive the minimum wage of some 260 Dinars a month, as part of the Employment and Training Programme of the Jordanian Ministry of Labor, some hospitals require doctors to pay annual fees of nearly 3,000 JOD for their training.
This continued pressure on junior doctors, many of whom work in the front line, forcing them to work for extended hours without rest or motivation, would contribute to a poorer quality of service which could result in medical errors potentially threatening individual rights to life and health, ImpACT warned.
The resident doctors had launched various campaigns on social media platforms, namely “You made us leave” and “Doctors, not slaves" to point out the iniquities to which they are subject during their work, prompting many to emigrate and work abroad.
The working conditions of resident doctors in Jordan contravene basic human rights as stipulated in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Article 23 that “Everyone has the right to work, to free choice of employment, to just and favorable conditions of work, and to protection against unemployment.”
These abuses arise as there is no supervisory body or legislation that regulates doctors’ working hours and salaries, allowing hospitals to exploit their need for training and employing by offering poor working conditions.
ImpACT is calling on the Jordanian authorities to suspend or repeal the “unpaid” residency programme, which takes advantage of the doctors’ needs; grant them full rights and reasonable working hours and wages to ensure the quality of medical servicesparticularly as the country is facing the Covid-19 pandemic.
The Jordanian government should fulfill its obligations under international conventions and agreements, including the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, Article (7), which states that every person has the right to enjoy just and satisfactory working conditions that guarantee, in particular, a fair wage, safe and healthy working conditions, and a decent living for workers and their families.