Would you deny an appraisal just because you feel it is too big? Most probably not. However, doctors in Quebec, Canada, are quite inclined to do just that.
In an open letter posted on its website, a group of Canadian doctors known as Médecins Québécois Pour Le Régime have stressed on the importance of money being spread out through the health care system. They have opposed the recent salary raise, saying that the raise is shocking considering that the nurses, clerks and other professions work in very difficult conditions. They also said that the patients have to put up with a lack of adequate access to required services because of the drastic cuts made in recent years.
"The only thing that seems to be immune to cuts is our salary", the group of medicine practitioners wrote.
According to CBC News, Dr Isabelle Leblanc, president of the organisation said that the group wants to show solidarity with the nurses protesting their working conditions.
If our colleagues are happier, if our patients are getting better care, we’ll all be winners, and it’s not an increase in pay that will do that.Dr Isabelle Leblanc
The province's 10,000 medical specialists are supposed to get a raise from $4.7 billion to $5.4 billion in 2023, an increase of 1.4 percent each year, reported CBC news. This was a part of a deal reached earlier in February.
The province’s health minister, Gaetan Barrette, however, said the doctors can forgo their raise if they want to.
If they feel they are overpaid, they can leave the money on the table. I guarantee you I can make good use of it.Gaétan Barrette
According to the CBC news report, Barrette, as the head of the federation of specialists in 2007, had negotiated a contract to put the province’s specialists at par with those in Ontario.
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