Tamara Öykü BAYAR

The regulations regarding the family medicine system have changed once again. With the amendment to the Family Medicine Contract and Payment Regulation published in the Official Gazette, the penalty previously imposed on family physicians for not attending a Family Health Center (FHC) for six months will now be applied to patients who have not attended for one year. Doctors, who claim the regulation is a fraud, have reacted strongly.

Dr. Hacı Yusuf Eryazğan, a member of the Board of Directors of the Federation of Family Physicians Associations (AHEF), highlighted the problems with the regulation issued in November 2024, noting that professional organizations have filed lawsuits challenging numerous provisions. Eryazğan stated that the statements made regarding the newly published regulation do nothing more than manipulate perceptions.

THE PROCESS HAS NOT CHANGED WITH THE NEW REGULATION

Eryazğan stated that although the period for salary deductions has been increased from 6 months to 1 year with the new regulation, this only applies to certain patient groups, and made the following statements:

When our legal committees, attorneys, and we reviewed the regulations, we discovered that this wasn't the case, that it wasn't actually consistent with the situation, and that if the population still hadn't arrived within six months, family physicians and family health workers would be subject to salary deductions. What's new is that certain population groups, such as pregnant women, postpartum women, infants, and children, will be exempt from this deduction, and the period for these groups will be one year. For the rest of the population, the six-month rule remains in effect. So, nothing has changed.

Eryazğan emphasized that some changes had been made to the formula and content of some articles related to payment and incentives, but that these changes were for show, adding that what was really needed was a permanent Family Medicine Law prepared in collaboration with professional organizations.

Eryazğan continued in summary as follows:

The family medicine system is being destabilized by constantly changing regulations. Regulations have changed 30 times in approximately 10 years. We are now experiencing a period where physicians are reluctant to go to work and are withdrawing. Family physicians and family health workers do not want regulations that are constantly being changed, sidetracked to avoid losing court, and deceived the public in this way. We want a family medicine law that fully protects our statutory rights and grants us our real rights, which will be reflected in retirement. We want this to be done in collaboration with professional organizations.

Dr. Ahmet Kandemir, Chairman of the Family Medicine Employees Union (AHESEN), also reacted to the regulation change.

Kandemir said:

The Ministry has been forced to make changes again. Unfortunately, the grievances will not be resolved in this state. Instead of regulations that are disconnected from the desk and the field, we must work together with the professional organizations that actually do this work. We must abandon these patchwork regulations. These cuts are neither scientific, logical, nor conscientious. The provisions regarding physician and midwife ratings under the guise of patient satisfaction, and the provisions that impose quotas on family physicians' prescriptions, are also unacceptable in public healthcare.

∗∗∗

THE OLD IS NOT DIFFERENT FROM THE NEW

Family physicians are paid according to the number of patients registered with them. According to the old regulation, a deduction would be made from the salaries of physicians for patients who have not been examined by their family physicians in the last 6 months.