Turkey fires family doctors on long‑term illness after new payment rules

Turkey's family medicine sector is facing a wave of contract terminations for doctors and nurses who are undergoing long‑term treatment. Under the recently enacted Family Medicine Payment and Contract Regulation, about 65 % of a physician’s monthly income is tied to performance criteria. The rule has led to the dismissal of doctors with cancer, chronic disease or recent brain‑hemorrhage surgery, even after they have been on sick leave for more than 180 days.

The Istanbul Family Physicians Association condemned the practice, stating that doctors who have lost two‑thirds of their earnings and then had their contracts terminated are being “put in front of the door by the system while they are ill.” The Union of Solidarity Trade Union, representing health workers, called the dismissals “inhuman” and announced legal action, quoting union leader Dr. Ahmet Mehlepçi: “Health workers are being told ‘you cannot be sick, you cannot have cancer, you cannot have a brain haemorrhage.’ This approach is unacceptable.”

Legal challenges are ongoing; an earlier administrative court order to halt the dismissals was overturned on appeal, and the affected physicians continue to seek reinstatement.