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JMDA President Dr. Mindi Fitz-Henley
The Jamaica Medical Doctors Association (JMDA) says 143 doctors in the public health system will be jobless as of July 1 as their contracts have not been renewed.
JMDA president Dr. Mindi Fitz-Henley has raised concern about the issue amid an easing of COVID-19 restrictions and the likelihood of another surge in cases of the virus.
She said health facilities will be under severe pressure to cope without an adequate number of doctors.
Dr. Fitz-Henley painted a grim picture of the potential impact of not having enough doctors in the event of another COVID-19 surge, even as the country already grapples with long wait times for different medical emergencies.
"You may have the doctors who are dealing specifically with COVID but that does not negate the persons coming in that are coming for trauma, those who are asthmatic, those who need to have an emergency C-section. And so, we need to make sure that what we're doing, no matter what it's doing, that it's scientifically backed and that we do have the resources to deal with what is possibly to come."
Dr. Fitz-Henley said some of the doctors are upset about being offered six month contracts.
She said this is a breach of the Heads of Agreement which stipulates that the doctors should be offered two or three year contracts.
The affected doctors are coming out their Senior House Officer post, which is the second year after finishing medical school. Several of them have also begun training to specialise in a specific area of medicine, but have not been offered a post so they can continue their studies.
Dr. Fitz-Henley said it appears the doctors are being taken for granted, so the association is prepared to head to court and "take any and all action needed" to resolve the matter.
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