JERUSALEM, Aug. 25 (Xinhua) -- The Medical Residents Organization of Israel (Mirsham) on Thursday announced mass resignation of medical residents in protest against the prolonged shifts of 26 consecutive hours.
The organization announced in a press conference the immediate resignation of 200 medical residents in seven hospitals throughout Israel, adding that from now on every Thursday another 200 residents would resign as well.
The residents claim that they are forced to work sleeplessly on the exhausting shifts, harming their health and alertness, and endangering the patients.
In October of last year, following the resignation of 2,600 medical residents in protest against prolonged working shifts, the Israeli Health Ministry announced a plan to shorten the shifts to 18 hours, initially in 10 hospitals in Israel.
The plan was supposed to take effect in April, but was postponed for a year and a half at the request of the largest health organization in Israel Clalit, the doctors' Israel Medical Association and the Finance Ministry due to a lack of budget, staff positions and human resources.
Mirsham said that the government does not intend to implement the plan, noting that they continue to be employed in inhumane conditions.
The Israeli Health Ministry said in a statement that it supports the residents' struggle, but called on them not to use the resignation as a tool that affect the hospitals' proper functioning. ■
