Patients turned away at San Fernando hospital

This, as doctors continued to protest their salary negotiations with the Chief Personnel Officer (CPO).

On Friday, during a midday briefing at the SFGH, Medical Professionals Association of Trinidad and Tobago (MPATT) announced that senior doctors had unanimously rejected the latest incentive pay package offered by the Public Sector Negotiating Committee.

It was noted by MPATT that senior doctors were left with no choice but to withdraw their overtime and on-call services.

The work-to-rule took effect after 4 pm on Friday and since then doctors have decided to stop working on weekends and public holidays and between 4 pm and 8 am.

Yesterday, doctors raised the heat by placing a paid advertisement in a daily newspaper in which they blasted the CPO and Public Administration Minister Lenny Saith.

It stated that the consultants would not accept a basic salary less than that of a secondary school principal. "You are well aware that pension and gratuity (and therefore retirement standard of living) are dependent on the basic salary," the ad said.

"You cannot use the argument that you must adhere to public services ranges when you are very well aware that consultants should have been reclassified more than 20 years ago; the same as other professionals and senior administrative officers in the public and judiciary services," it continued.

It further stated that houses in Federation Park and St Joseph Village were no longer provided for consultants.

"You have removed this benefit without replacement with the equivalent housing allowance (on par with judicial officers in the SRC at $5,000 per month). Tobago doctors get as much as $3,000 per month with housing allowance since 2001."

When Newsday visited the accident and emergency department of the SFGH yesterday, patients were being turned away from the public health facility and being told to go to private health institutions for medical assistance. A disgruntled patient, who wished not to be identified, complained bitterly, "I getting serious chest pains and this morning my children bring me to casualty here and after waiting two hours a nurse tell me that is best I leave and go somewhere else because it have no doctor. I find that is real stupidness, where I going to get money to go to a nursing home. I thought this hospital was for the public," he said.