KALIFA CLYNE and
KEVON FELMINE
Health Minister Fuad Khan says he expects salary negotiations between the Chief Personnel Officer (CPO) and local doctors to end by tomorrow.
Doctors in the public service have been working on 2008 salaries and have called on Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar to intervene following a breakdown of salary negotiations with the CPO.
In a letter to Persad-Bissessar last week, the Medical Professionals Association of T&T (MPATT) claimed doctors were being treated with blatant disregard and disrespect by the current administration.
It was reported yesterday that some doctors intended to use measures, such as wearing black to work in order to highlight their issues.
In a brief telephone interview yesterday, however, Khan said a team from his ministry, which included himself, had met with the CPO yesterday to discuss several issues.
“We will meet with the MPATT team and by Thursday I expect they will come to some sort of agreement or conclusion,” Khan said.
When the T&T Guardian visited the San Fernando General Hospital yesterday, there were few doctors wearing black under their white coats.
One doctor said although they support MPATT’s push for wage increase, only a few of their colleagues wore black clothing. An employee at the hospital said he counted seven doctors who wore pieces of black clothing.
SFGH medical director Dr Anand Chattergoon said he was not fearful of doctors taking strike actions.
“I certainly did not see any black. I had a meeting with the heads of the 15 clinical departments today and nobody wore black. They wore their usual attractive colours.
“Everything was wonderful here today. Here at the San Fernando General Hospital we have wonderful, principled and ethical doctors who follow the footsteps of our chairman and CEO, so we won't do such at ethical thing to deprive patients of the care they deserve,” he said.