Junior doctors serve ultimatum for talks on overtime wages to be completed today

By Kimone Witter    

 

Junior doctors have served an ultimatum on the Ministries of Health and Wellness and Finance and the Public Service for discussions on overtime remunerations to be concluded today.

 

President of the Jamaica Medical Doctors' Association (JMDA), Dr. Renee Badroe, has expressed frustration that another meeting with the ministries and regional health authorities, held Wednesday, failed to yield any meaningful progress.

 

Dr. Badroe said the representatives were informed that the doctors were not prepared to accept further delay, which they view as a breach of trust.

 

She told Radio Jamaica News that should the authorities fail to act decisively, there could be disruption in the public health sector in the coming days. 

 

"We have said to them, all right, we hear your proposal, but you cannot treat all doctors the same because all doctors do not work the same. You cannot give a doctor who works and covers three hospitals the same as a doctor that covers only one. So we said to them, alright, in the spirit of negotiation, in good faith, I want you the ministry to present to us what your costing analysis is, and compare and contrast it to what it is that we already have a contracting agreement with. 

 

"The ministry delayed, delayed, delayed, delayed, delayed, delayed. We're waiting and we're waiting and the ministry cannot provide us the necessary costing information and the necessary analysis 20 months later. And it seems that they want to impose their proposal on our aleady established contract," she complained. 

 

Dr. Badroe said the JMDA is concerned that after repeated requests over close to two years, the Ministry of Health is unable to provide it with the number of doctors employed to the public service.

 

She recalled that last year, then finance minister, Dr. Nigel Clarke, presented a budget in relation to 1,764 doctors, which the association insisted was "grossly incorrect" and short by at least 500 doctors.

 

"And when we did our own analysis, that number has gone up. So we have a ministry, or two ministries, that have employed our doctors and they do know how many of them have been employed. And if you do know how many doctors you have employed, your budgeting is going to be absolutely erroneous," she asserted. 

 

She said the JMDA urged the ministries to correct the numbers and present a cost analysis for the overtime policy, but they have failed to do so, instead asking for follow-up meetings or for further time, which has left the association "fed up".