A legislative petition has been filed calling for the guarantee of an independent work environment for policy officials at the Ministry of Health and Welfare, as well as the establishment of a stable healthcare policy and a rational physician workforce supply plan.

This comes amid concerns that last year's healthcare crisis was caused by being swayed by external short-term interests or political pressure. The petition emphasizes the need to enact the 'Medical Workforce Estimation Agency' to solve the problem.

A petition titled 'Petition for Measures to Ensure an Independent Work Environment for the Ministry of Health and Welfare' was posted on the National Assembly's Public Petition Bulletin on January 31st.

As of noon on February 7th, about 9,000 people have expressed their support for the petition. If it receives more than 100,000 consents by March 2nd, it will be referred to the National Assembly's Health and Welfare Committee's Legislative Petition Subcommittee for review of its necessity and effectiveness.

The petitioner said, "The Ministry of Health and Welfare is an institution where fairness and expertise are paramount in the policy-making and execution process, but the current system and environment make it difficult to make independent and principled decisions due to political pressure and external interference."

The petitioner argues that in order for public officials to carry out their duties with conviction, clear legal grounds must be prepared, and a policy enforcement environment must be guaranteed in accordance with laws and systems.

Therefore, the petitioner suggested that the healthcare development plan stipulated in Article 15, Paragraph 1 of the Framework Act on Health and Medical Services should be established to create an environment where policy officials can stably and fairly establish and implement policies.

The petitioner pointed out, "The healthcare development plan stipulated in the Framework Act on Health and Medical Services has not been established for the past 20 years, making it difficult to maintain policy consistency due to the environment where public officials cannot work stably in the healthcare policy establishment and execution process."

The petitioner said, "The 2024 healthcare crisis occurred because it was swayed by external short-term interests or political pressure," and urged the immediate establishment of a healthcare development plan and the preparation of measures to support it.

The petitioner also emphasized the need to enact the Medical Workforce Estimation Agency to establish a rational medical workforce supply plan by excluding external pressure.

The petitioner argued, "Currently, the supply and demand of healthcare workforce is often determined by external pressure, which makes it impossible to calculate objective and rational medical workforce."

The petitioner explained that in order to solve this problem, it is urgent to enact the Medical Workforce Estimation Agency, and through this, a medical workforce calculation system that is guaranteed independence should be established.

The petitioner also argued, "It is also an essential process to prepare sufficient educational conditions for nurturing high-quality medical personnel."

The reason is that a blind approach to simply increasing the number of doctors without preparing educational conditions can be a serious threat to public health.

The petitioner also said, "When calculating the medical workforce estimate, it is necessary to reflect a multifaceted perspective by considering the medical school education conditions and the resident training environment."

In response, the Ministry of Health and Welfare said, "We are aware of the petition and are reviewing it."

The Ministry of Health and Welfare also said, "We are making efforts to establish a stable healthcare policy and a rational physician workforce supply plan."

The Ministry of Health and Welfare said, "We will continue to listen to the opinions of the people and make efforts to improve the healthcare system."

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