Chinese rural doctors threaten mass resignations for being overworked and underpaid
- Medics in Henan province complain they are getting ‘less and less money’ but face a heavy workload
- Local authorities dismiss most of their complaints but have been told to investigate case further
A group of rural doctors in central China attempted to resign en masse complaining that they were overworked and underpaid.
“Because pressure at work has increased, and the higher-ups are taking more and more funds, we receive less and less money,” said the letter dated June 28 and signed by 36 doctors from the town of Zhusha in Tongxu county, Henan province.
“Now, we village doctors cannot sustain our livelihood.”
The letter was circulated widely on social media and a second mass resignation letter – this one signed at the end of last month by 28 doctors from Dagangli village in Tongxu, also started circulating this week.
However it remained unclear whether the doctors had actually been able to resign.
The local government issued a statement on Friday, insisting the first group of doctors were still at work, adding that their complaints had been investigated and many had been found to be groundless.