Some type of protest action by doctors may be in the offing, according to a statement from the Medical Professionals Association (MPATT). Health Minister Dr Fuad Khan is questioning the timing of the action, as he is preparing to make some changes to the regional health authorities. The MPATT Reformers group said in a release doctors were becoming increasingly upset and frustrated because of poor conditions and the fact there had been no salary negotiations since 2008.
The release said: “While we cannot take industrial action we will have to use other ways to show our displeasure with the current situation.” The group is also agitated over reports that negotiations were concluded last Friday, saying to date no doctor has received any salary increase or backpay. But Khan said he found it “fishy” that MPATT was raising a fuss now just as he was preparing to change senior members of the RHA boards across the country. He believes this information was leaked and that is why the issue of salary negotiations has come up.
Khan also denied negotiations had not been held since 2008, saying his ministry was near to concluding a competitive package for the doctors. In a phone interview with the T&T Guardian yesterday he said he had been meeting with Finance Minister Larry Howai and believed they were near to offering the doctors a percentage increase and backpay from 2008-2013. He said for the period after 2013 he was trying to improve the job descriptions of doctors and may soon seek to employ more consultants on a full-time basis, especially doctors who do not have a private practice and can dedicate more time to research and providing top-class health care at public hospitals.
To do that, he said, doctors would have to be paid adequately and that could only be done after a proper job description had been drafted. Khan hoped “MPATT is not letting anyone use them like pawns.” Its president Dr Ravindranath Narine could not be reached by phone or e-mail yesterday despite several attempts.
