Medical staff protest at Chiang Rai hospital over 12-hour shifts
Yesterday morning, March 16, around 200 medical staff at a hospital in Chiang Rai gathered to protest against a nursing council announcement that would require some staff to work 12-hour nursing shifts, saying the change could affect both their well-being and patient care.
The group assembled at Chiang Rai Prachanukroh Hospital in Mueang Chiang Rai district, where nurses and other personnel held protest signs with messages including “People are not robots,” “Give nurses their quality of life back,” and “Frontline staff will not tolerate this,” alongside signs rejecting 12-hour shifts.
A nurse representative said the group wanted the hospital to return to the standard eight-hour shift system. They argued that 12-hour shifts would increase fatigue among nurses, which could in turn affect patient treatment.
The representative highlighted the 8pm to 8am shift in particular, describing it as a period normally used for rest.
The nurse said staff shortages meant they could not rotate breaks properly, especially with wards handling patients with a wide range of conditions.
They added that management had not consulted staff about the change, and claimed leaders had ignored concerns while expecting them to work without pay.
According to the representative, after the hospital received the policy direction to move to 12-hour shifts, staff were told it was not mandatory.
However, they said rosters were arranged abruptly, with the 12-hour format set to begin in April. Amarin TV reported that they also complained that the compensation was not reasonable.
Following the gathering, Premchai Tirangkoon, the hospital’s deputy director for medical services, met the group to hear concerns and offer clarification.
He said that if any department or ward was not ready to implement 12-hour shifts, it could continue using the existing eight-hour model. After the discussion, the nurses and staff returned to work as normal.
Premchai said the new shift approach would naturally affect nurses’ daily lives, but stressed it was intended to be voluntary. He said wards ready to adapt could move to longer shifts, while those not ready or comfortable could continue with the current system.
He added that the situation should be addressed through shared understanding to prevent misunderstandings caused by communication problems.
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