Progressive Liberal Party Chairman Senator Fred Mitchell says the government  seems  unable or unwilling to execute the agreements put in place to give the  Consultants Physicians  Staff Association  (CPSA) the benefits negotiated under their contract.

He opined  that the CPSA is entitled to take a  strike vote, given the circumstances in the protracted standoff with the Public Hospitals Authority.

Mr. Mitchell  said  the Minister of Health  “Dr. Duane Sands is particularly cruel in his approach to healthcare for the Bahamian public.”

He added, “he sits in a government that has found $65 million to buy a dead hotel, but is telling dialysis patients that they can’t have the full course of treatment because the hospital has no money.”

He also spoke on the potential strike can have on the country’s healthcare system.

The Senator said,  “I expect there would be chaos, quite simply, but the Minister and his Prime Minister must not allow that to happen.”

The PLP Chairman also responded to remarks made by Dr. Sands where he tells the opposition to, “sit down and shut up”.

He said, “well, I tell him the same thing. He must sit small and shut up, because he obviously doesn’t know what he’s doing.

“Clearly it’s  not an appropriate  comment for a public official to make, but these are the days they are; and I’m not one to back down. If  he uses that kind of language, I’m equally happy to return it,” he added.

Mr. Mitchell noted  that the PLP will do the best from their side to keep pushing the envelope to ensure that these policies within the hospitals are corrected.