Doctors continue negotiations

SENIOR DOCTORS and members of the Joint Negotiating Team (JNT) of the Regional Health Authorities (RHA) held their second meeting at the Eric Williams Medical Sciences Complex on Wednesday and are scheduled to meet again next month at the same venue. Acting president of the Medical Professionals Association of Trinidad and Tobago (MPATT), Dr Lakhan Roop, said MPATT reiterated its position on certain areas of the new contracts being offered to consultants and registrars. Roop said the JNT indicated that they would have to take MPATT’s views “back to their principal.” 

He declined to elaborate further on the current status of the negotiations, except to say that the doctors were keeping an open mind and were committed to ensuring that the negotiations are successfully concluded. The doctors and the JNT began their negotiations on March 22 at the EWMSC but a follow-up meeting on April 5 was aborted due to a bomb scare at the EWMSC.  JNT chairman, Imitiaz Ahamad, has expressed optimism that the talks would be successfully concluded while Health Minister John Rahael has described the new packages being offered to the doctors as the best packages ever offered to them.