If we had to sum up the newest agreement between doctors and their employers in only one sentence, we would say that it is a very good agreement for the Israeli public that significantly advances the national health care system. If I may use a common term that has been tossed around a lot over the past few weeks, the agreement, to a great extent, brings social justice to one of the most important public systems in the country. In other words, it improves the national health care system and will hopefully serve to provide quality medical treatment within a reasonable amount of time to every resident of the country. The significant increase in salary, coupled with financial incentives for doctors working in the Negev and the Galilee, will attract more experienced senior doctors to these regions, where they are sorely needed. The salary boost, which in some specialties will be as much as 80 percent, is likely to improve, at long last, the quality and timeliness of medical services in areas outside of central Israel regions that have lagged behind for years. The addition of 1,000 new positions for doctors in hospitals is likely to improve the medical care throughout all of Israel, assuming the Health Ministry properly handles and supervises their implementation. Limiting the amount of on-call shifts for residents and reducing their duration, for some residents, to 20 hours, will also likely bring a significant improvement in the quality of hospital medical care, as well as in the quality of life of our doctors. An employee time clock will help curb the phenomenon of senior doctors leaving hospitals in the middle of the workday and, on the other hand, will ensure additional compensation for doctors who put in extra hours to care for the public. In terms of medical clinics and national health funds, the agreement includes significant improvements, namely longer time slots for appointments with doctors, extended to a full 12 minutes for each patient. This is another great achievement for public medicine and social justice in Israel. This salary agreement is not intended to replace the significant reform still needed in Israels medical system. It does, however, bring the public health care system in Israel a few meaningful steps forward.
