To address the problems associated with excessive overtime for medical personnel, the Council of Labor Affairs and Department of Health are holding a meeting in June to include them in the Labor Standard Law, in an attempt to protect their working rights.

Civil groups, on the other hand, hope that the government can propose solutions to help improve their working environment, and guarantee the medical quality provided to the public.

The medical staff shortage and problems associated with working overtime have come under the spotlight, after a series of protest launched by medical personnel.

In order to solve the problems, Council of Labor Affairs and Department of Health are planning to review the working condition of doctors, nurses, and medical personnel in a meeting on June 3rd.

As a matter of fact, back in 1998, medical personnel have been included under the protection of Labor Standard Law.

However, based on the survey conducted by Taiwan Healthcare Reform Foundation (THRF), the major cause that contributes to overworked medical personnel is the staff shortage in hospitals, because hospitals have cut back on the number of staff to bring down the costs.

Furthermore, most hospitals have failed adopt a reasonable working hours or work loads for medical staff.

The Taiwan Healthcare Reform Foundation believes that the situation will be greatly improved once hospitals adopt a more reasonable workload and working hours for their employees.

In addition, the foundation hopes that the meeting can also include doctors under the protection of the Labor Standard Law.

However, it takes the hospitals' cooperation to help improve medical personnel's working condition.

Chiu Yi-chun, researcher of THRF said that many hospitals have made fake reports on employee's working hours, and it's hard for the authorities to monitor the hospitals, and hospital staff can only put up with the unfair working condition.

THRF hopes that the government can come up with workable solutions to address the issue, however, in the mean time, medical personnel can only wait and hope for the best.