Rahael, Montano tackle MPATT woes

The meeting is scheduled to take place at the Labour Ministry’s Riverside Plaza, Port-of-Spain offices at 9 am. Doctors had planned to effect their protest of withdrawing all overtime services, from four o’clock this afternoon.

The doctors employed at the Regional Health Authorities (RHA) are reportedly aggrieved by a decision of the Registration Recognition and Certification Board (RRCB) to deny recognition status to MPATT, which has been seeking such status for the past three years, as the legitimate bargaining unit for doctors.

The RRCB ruled on July 15, that it would deny recognition status to MPATT in respect of doctors working in the Eastern Regional Health Authority (ERHA).

MPATT vice president Dr Rajendra Persad, said meetings held at various hospitals, including the Port-of-Spain General Hospital and Eric Williams Medical Sciences Complex, resulted in unanimous support for today’s planned action.

Dr Persad said the RRCB had issued a ‘curt’ statement regarding its decision to deny MPATT recognition status. Persad said MPATT fulfilled the majority of the relevant requirements sought by the RRCB.

MPATT, he said, also submitted a detailed breakdown of the scope of duties exercised by doctors in the proposed bargaining unit. Hospital sources said institutions in the south west and eastern RHAs have been reportedly placed on ‘emergency mode’ to deal with any emergency medical situation, if the overtime work-to-rule goes into effect.

The action, which is set to begin at 4 pm today, will see doctors working only between the hours of 8 am- 4 pm from Mondays to Fridays with no work on weekends and public holidays. Both RHAs have since dispatched letters to the permanent secretary in the Ministry of Health, outlining its respective contingency plan to deal with the situation.