Where is the voice of doctors?: Understanding lack of collective action on Türkiye's healthcare reforms

Starting with the Health Transformation Program, initiated in 2003, the public healthcare system of Türkiye has transformed considerably in the last two decades. Since the reform program aimed for equitable and effective provision of healthcare services while maintaining a cost-effective financing structure, the doctors have been negatively affected by the reform processes. During this process, the doctors were not able to substantially influence the reform processes, even if they were one of the key actors regarding healthcare services, and there were considerable organized collective reactions to the reforms, primarily initiated by occupational organizations and unions. By applying the exit, voice, loyalty (Hirschman, 2004), and neglect model (Rusbult et al., 1982) to understand the perspectives of a group of doctors and managers, this thesis aims to reflect the political attitudes and articulations of the participants regarding the healthcare reform and its consequences. It shows that the cost of voice is high and that the belief in improving the healthcare system is low amongst the participant doctors due to the general political context of Türkiye and the increasingly precarious work conditions for doctors. The interviews showed that the participants showed an attitude of neglect, which is giving up the possibility of improvement.