Consultant  Physicians  with the  Public  Hospitals Authority say  they  are not respected in the process of seeking better salaries and working conditions. Following a walk out recently, two officers  of  the Consultant Physician Staff Association (CPSA) yesterday  spoke out again on Love 97’s  Radio  and  JCN Television  programme Jones and Company.

The CPSA President Dr. Locksley Munroe and Treasurer Dr. John Dillett  made it clear that they will push ahead for a strike vote this week.

Dr. Dillett said, “to go ten years or more without an increase in pay, with no health insurance, with no pension plan; its not humane. It’s inhumane. We wouldn’t treat persons that we think are valuable to our organization like that.”

He added, “I know that Dr. Munroe and his generation have been fighting for the rights of patients, for nurses, for junior doctors, and we just wish to follow in his footsteps.”

Dr. Munroe also pointed out that he would be able to make much more money outside of the public healthcare system, but a lot of Bahamians cannot afford the services he provides.

He said, “that is why persons like myself, Dr. Delton Farquharson, Theo Ferguson; all of us who are particularly in surgery,  we stay in the Princess Margaret Hospital.”

He added, “ not because we are being paid in any kind of way. Not because we cannot use our time in another way, but you are providing services to people from Acklins, Crooked Island, and Andros that they would not be able to afford outside of Princess Margaret Hospital.” 

Last week the PHA held a press conference explaining that they simply cannot afford to accommodate the association’s concerns. 

Dr. Dillett explained that senior physicians have put forward plans to bridge the $206 million deficit in the PHA so that staff can receive what they deserve.

He said, “ there are low-hanging fruits.  Things that are already being done at the hospital that simply can easily be collected for and Dr. Munroe  has talked about this. From signing of insurance forms and other things.”

He added, “there are a number of things that can be done, but here is the problem. They are not listening to the senior physicians. They are not listening to the experts on the ground who see  this every day, who understand the system and makes suggestions.

  “Part of the problem is physicians have been marginalized and x-ed out of the decision making, and that is why we continue to have these problems because they don’t have the solutions. The person who have some of the solutions they are not listening to,” he said. 

Prime  Minister Dr. Hubert Minnis this past  weekend said he understood the association’s plight,  as he was once a member. Back from  of his recent trip to  the United Nations General Assembly in New York, he said that he has all intentions to meet with the Physicians soon.