Standing in solidarity with the Consultant Physicians in their strike action,  The Bahamas Doctors Union  President Dr. Melisanda Bassette said they have actually been in talks with the CPSA to ensure that emergency health care services are not withdrawn.

“We will support our consultants in ensuring that they are duly compensated for the hard work that they do and when we do get our approval for our strike vote, they will support us as well.

“There are many issues that we face that we all share together and we can’t provide the best healthcare to the public if we are disadvantaged,” she said.

Dr. Bassette said the BDU has made application to the Department of Labour for its own strike certificate.

“There have been some hiccups with that. We are seeking legal advice  as to how we can proceed,  because we’ve met all the legal requirements to get an approval but it has not been forthcoming. 

“Something as simple as ensuring that junior doctors are paid the legal and constitutional double time for working holidays, we have to battle administration for,” she said.

This comes months after the BDU staged a demonstration at  the Princess Margaret Hospital  saying they are  being ill-treated and that they are being denied certain key benefits.

The junior doctors said that they are being denied maternity benefits. They also demanded holiday pay and that medical licenses have been revoked because of changes to licensing requirements.

In response to this, Health Minister Dr. Duane Sands said he would not be able to intervene.

Dr. Sands also said that he was hopes the matter could be successfully resolved, but  that has not  happened as yet.