Deadline draws near for RHAs to complete negotiations

With six days remaining until the March 28 deadline set by the Inter-ministerial Committee on the Health Sector for the Regional Health Authorities to complete negotiations with doctors, talks are reported to be at a “sensitive stage.” 

An RHA source could not say if the deadline would be met, but expressed hope that next week would give an indication. A meeting scheduled for last Thursday at the Eric Williams Medical Sciences Complex was cancelled by the RHAs. They were receiving “further information” from the Health Ministry. Another meeting will take place on Tuesday when doctors are expected to respond to the RHAs offer. Doctors are reported to be “unhappy” with the offer being made by the RHAs or the pace of negotiations. Questioned about whether negotiations will be completed by the deadline, one doctor said “not at the way things are going.”

On February 5, the Inter-ministerial Committee on the Health Sector met with doctors at the Attorney General’s Cabildo Chambers office and drafted a resolution to end the 36-day impasse between doctors and the Regional Health Authorities /Ministry of Health which has resulted in major hospitals being able to provide only emergency service. The RHAs were mandated by government to “make their best effort to conclude these negotiations by March 28.” Doctors were to return to work “forthwith” with  all terms and conditions of the new contracts of employment being retroactive to the date of expiry of the old contracts.