Academics, including the unions of psychologists and social workers in the Histadrut, announced on Sunday night, December 6, that they are beginning an open-ended strike in public mental health clinics around the country. The union told the employees not to report to their places of work until further notice. The general labor federation academic branch accused the Health Ministry of “hiding information on the activities of public mental health clinics, harming psychologists and social workers, freezing manpower slots and allowing tracks that bypass family physicians.”
Banner at a Tel-Aviv demonstration: “Fighting for public psychological services” (Photo: Zu Haderech)
Yael Ron, chairperson of the academic branch, said they were forced to “take this extreme step to save the future of mental health services in Israel.” The head of the Union of Social Workers, Tzafra Dwek, added that “the state must provide open public services in mental health.” Union officials charged that the strike was triggered by “violations of understandings between the unions and the director general of the Ministry of Health, Moshe Bar Siman Tov, following the launching of a controversial mental health reform program on July 1. These understandings, which “began to unravel” in November, had been meant to protect the vocational security of the employees and the future of the professions of clinical psychology and social work.
From Monday morning, December 7, no services are being provided at 54 clinics which service some 56,000 patients, among them 10,000 children and teenagers. Psychology students have also been harmed by the Ministry of Health’s cutting more than 70% of its participation in the cost of hiring the graduates. Union officials have accused the ministry of going back on its promises to provide the unions with all relevant information about the volume of clinics’ activities and the granting of scholarships to graduates. “Unfortunately,” said Ron, “all that we had warned about before the reform began is now being implemented. The first victims are the clinic professionals and the patients.”
Shortage of Mental Health Workers in Arab Community
Arab citizens of Israel not receive the same level of mental health and psychological services available to other citizens, claimed MK Eli Alalouf (Kulanu), chairman of the Knesset Labor, Social Welfare and Health Committee on Monday, December 7. The issue was raised during discussions about the strike launched by psychologists and clinical social workers on Monday in public health clinics nationwide. Rada Naim, a clinical psychologist in the Arab town of I’billin, told the committee she and colleagues staffing a total of 3.25 funded positions treat 400 children together with a psychiatrist who fills an additional quarter slot. “There are huge needs and no one to fill them,” Naim said. The shortage of psychologists, social workers and psychiatrists hurts the entire population and not just the Arab sector, she added.
MK Aida Touma-Sliman (Joint List – Hadash) said that only 2.5% of psychologists in Israel are Arabs, and that 90% of Arabs who need mental health treatment don’t receive it. MK Dov Khenin (Joint List – Hadash) said that the mental health clinics in Arab cities like Umm el-Fahm and Shefamr (Shfaram) were collapsing. MK Eli Alalouf demanded the Ministry of Finance report within a month to the committee how it plans to cope with the shortage of mental health professionals in the Arab sector as part of a multi-year plan being prepared.
