Nurses, midwives restive over outstanding payments

By Kimone Witter/Clinton McGregor  

 

Groups representing public sector nurses say they are still awaiting word from the Ministry of Health and the four regional health authorities regarding outstanding payments due to them.

 

Registered and enrolled nurses as well as midwives staged a protest Monday by wearing black to demonstrate their frustration with the lack of response from the authorities.

 

The healthcare workers explained that their wage agreements were signed in April 2022 under the new public sector compensation scheme.

 

Radio Jamaica News was informed that directives were also sent to the regional health authorities for the payment of retroactive monies to begin August last year for registered and enrolled nurses as well as midwives.  

 

But, since then, they say they have not received the outstanding compensation and have faced financial hardship and distress even as they continue to provide essential services. 

 

Dawn Marie Richards, President of the Nurses Association of Jamaica (NAJ), told Radio Jamaica News that the NAJ wrote letters to the regional health authorities regarding an extra hours worked policy introduced in August last year, and is still awaiting word on payments under the new policy.

 

"The compensation review 2022 came with new policies, one being the Extra Hours Worked Policy, which speaks to payment for work done outside of scheduled hours. The effective date for new payment was August 1, 2024. The policy was disseminated in November of 2024. To date, the different regions and facilities have not implemented this policy, despite the fact that nurses continue to provide extended hours service."

 

Ms. Richards said a letter was sent to the various regions on Friday, requesting implementation in February 2025, with retroactive payments for March 2025. 

 

In an interview with Radio Jamaica News, Sharon Banbury Edwards, President of the Jamaica Midwives Association, said all attempts to get redress for her members have fallen on deaf ears.

 

"Based on the compensation package, some things would have [been] agreed on. And the financial year is coming to a close, and we are still not settled where that is concerned," she complained.   

 

Mrs. Banbury Edwards said a circular from the Ministry of Finance directed that the outstanding sums should be paid to the midwives. But she believes the different regions are causing the delay. 

 

Claudette Clarke Waugh, President of the Enrolled Nurses Association, has called for Health Minister Dr. Christopher Tufton and Finance Minister Fayval Williams to intervene in the matter.

 

"At present, the four regions seem to be operating as if they are four different ministries. There is hardly any similarity with the four regions, so therefore we decided to go black just to show that we are not comfortable with what is happening in terms of the feedback that we're getting. Going forward, we're hoping...that [the regions] will respond, and we're also hoping that the intervention of the Minister of Health and the Minister of Finance will bring about some resolution to this blackout," she said.

 

Chairman of the Southern Regional Health Authority (SRHA), Wayne Chen, has said the authority is in discussions with the Finance Ministry to make the payments to the health workers.

 

Mr. Chen told Radio Jamaica News on Monday afternoon that the SRHA is experiencing challenges making payments to its workers and suppliers.

 

But he said the authority is pushing to resolve the issues facing the health workers.

 

In the meantime, Lascelles Brown, acting regional director for the South East Regional Health Authority (SERHA), told Radio Jamaica News that the authority is awaiting direction from the Finance Ministry regarding the payments to the nurses and midwives.