Hospitals face shutdown

Major hospitals are facing shutdown from March 4, as senior doctors have given notice to the Regional Health Authorities that they will not be working overtime until their demands for better salaries and overtime are addressed. Doctors have rejected the most recent proposal. The threat was announced in a release from the Medical Professionals Association of TT (MPATT). It stated, “Senior doctors will not be responsible for patient care duties after 4 pm Monday to Friday, all weekends and public holidays.” MPATT blamed any inconvenience to the public on the RHA’s disregard for the overtime service provided by the doctors.

A meeting of the Joint Negotiating Team (JNT) of RHAs and the doctors’ representatives took place last week, but doctors are not satisfied with the proposals for a new package (2003-2005) for consultants and registrars. JNT Chairman Imtiaz Ahamad said the overall salary package offered was good. He said it was the final proposal and the RHAs would try to convince doctors “They are in a favourable position.” Ahamad, Chairman of the South-West RHA, said the RHAs would meet next week to find some mechanism to keep the health system functioning should the doctors “shutdown the system.” A doctor told Newsday that without the senior doctors, their juniors could only treat “coughs and colds” and mild asthma attacks.

He said they were not qualified to treat massive internal injuries, severe heart attacks or perform surgery. MPATT said the basic salary proposed for senior doctors remained less than a primary school principal ($13,418) and this denied doctors an adequate gratuity or pension. It said the RHAs were proposing an unfair payment scheme for overtime (a flat rate) which reflected the “poor understanding” the RHAs had of the true value of the overtime duties provided by the senior doctors. Unlike their Tobago colleagues, Trinidad doctors have not been offered a housing allowance. MPATT said issues for compensatory days, weekends and public holidays had not been addressed. “The doctors view this counterproposal of the RHA as entirely unacceptable and have unequivocally rejected the offer.”