Impact of the Transformation in Healthcare on Women Workers Ahead of the 3rd KESK Women's Congress
The layered impacts of the Health Transformation Program on the working conditions, increased workload, and care responsibilities of women healthcare workers are examined.
Interviews conducted ahead of the upcoming 3rd KESK Women's Congress highlight how the Health Transformation Program affects the daily lives, burnout, and working conditions of women healthcare workers.
The Situation of Women Workers Heading to the Congress
Ahead of the 3rd KESK Women's Congress, to be held on September 4-6, 2026, comprehensive interviews were conducted on the reflections of public transformation and privatization policies on women public employees.
Effects of the Health Transformation Program
The Health Transformation Program, implemented in Turkey for nearly two decades, has fundamentally altered the organization of healthcare services, workers' working conditions, and social access.
Performance-based work, subcontracting, and forms of precarious employment stand out among the most prominent consequences of the increasing commercialization of healthcare.
Gender Inequality and Layered Consequences
Although the effects of this transformation are experienced by all healthcare workers, the consequences emerge in a much more layered manner for women due to gender roles.
While producing healthcare services, women also continue to be the primary bearers of responsibilities such as domestic chores, childcare, and elderly care.
Qualitative Research and Women's Experiences
Instead of explaining the process solely through numbers or regulations, a qualitative research approach centering women's own words was adopted.
The interviews clearly reveal how the burden of care has increased, how violence has become normalized, and why workers experience burnout.