Temporarily hired doctors are once again threatening a strike at the National Health Service if the government lowers the payment to these professionals. This threat comes at a time of tension between these professionals and the executive.
Xavier Barreto, president of the Portuguese Association of Hospital Administrators, argues that conditions should be created for temporarily hired doctors to have employment contracts, rather than being service providers. This position emerges as an attempt to find a structural solution to the problem.
Temporarily hired doctors are professionals who work at the National Health Service through service provision contracts, a modality that has been criticized for not guaranteeing the same labor rights as a traditional employment contract. The strike threat arises when the government signals a possible reduction in the amounts paid to these professionals.
