Consultant Physicians employed by the Public Hospitals Authority are on strike. The group of about 120 senior doctors made good on the results of the October strike poll and withdrew their services.
Consultant Physician Staff Association President Dr. Locksley Munroe’s said this stems from issues dating back to 2016.
“We submitted our templates up to the manner in which physicians should be reimbursed and yet this is one year later and we still have not come to any sort of resolution or conclusion to the matter of physician reimbursement.
“The implications of that is what triggered this meeting today. The body as a whole is frustrated and feels that they are not valued in any way by the authorities,” he said.
Two years back, the CPSA submitted a proposal to the PHA to address their issues, but according to Dr. Munroe, the authority’s counter proposal sought to settle a deficit between the junior and senior physicians’ salary.
The CPSA was at the time assured that it would not be left at a disadvantage, but according to its president, that’s exactly what happened.
“In 2001, a letter of concerns was written to the then managing director and that deficit was corrected.
“For the following three- five-year industrial cycle, they have not addressed that issue.
“So the funds that they provided really and truly were to correct the deficit that they created, because they did not honor the promise of transition from the ministry of heal to the PHA.
“As far as actually improving our base salary, which was the whose principle behind the exercise, from 2016 has not been addressed,” he said.
As for where things are now, Dr. Munroe gave an account as to what that a withdrawal of services means.
“Primarily all electives procedures will be the first to go off the books. As far as provision of services; emergency services will be covered in one way or the other.
“The idea is that these services can be withdrawn in the various organizations where these consultants work.
“In other words they can be done in Freeport, they can be done in Princess Margret Hospital as well as the Sandilands Rehabilitation Center,” he said.
