Dental surgeons grit teeth over classification delay
Published:Monday | March 30, 2026 | 12:09 AMKaren Madden/Gleaner Writer
The Union of Clerical Administrative and Supervisory Employees (UCASE) is blaming systemic “inertia” for the protracted delay in correcting an anomaly affecting registered dental surgeons.
The union, as part of its efforts to press the ministries of health and wellness and finance to bring action to the signed agreement, has issued a notice of industrial action.
In a letter dated March 27, 2026 to Health Minister Dr Christopher Tufton, Permanent Secretary in the Health Ministry Errol Green, Principal Director at the Health Ministry Sonia Smith, as well as Financial Secretary Darlene Morrison and Wayne Jones, deputy financial secretary, UCASE warned that industrial action looms.
UCASE represents the Jamaica Association of Public Dental Surgeons.
The quarrel centres around the non-implementation of an item in their agreement signed on October 8, 2024 which addresses the employment anomaly affecting registered dental surgeons engaged as ‘dental intern 2’, rather than ‘dental surgeon 1’.
UCASE President Vincent Morrison told The Gleaner that the matter remains unresolved despite repeated representation.
“I really believe this is a part of the inertia that exists in the service. Not only speaking to the Ministry of Finance or the Ministry of Health, [but] the issue of inertia. In other words, you have union negotiation, collective bargaining process, and matters are to be dealt with; it is like you have to do the work twice, you know, and that is what has happened to this issue.”
According to Morrison, despite the signed agreement, more than a year later the posts that were to be established by the ministries have not been completed.
UCASE said that the immediate concern is the fact that seven dental intern 2 officers in the Western Regional Health Authority are due to have their engagements end tomorrow, a move that the union said “will create significant operational disruption, further strain on already under-resourced facilities, and adversely affect access to oral health services in the region”.
Industrial action
Morrison said industrial action would be taken come Wednesday if the ministries do not give the regional body the authority to implement the changes.
“We are not going to rule out industrial action if the health ministry and the Ministry of Finance, along with the regional health authority [do not act]. We are not going to agree that the doctors are sent home, are terminated. We not going to agree, and we have given them time, certainly, to sort out the matter. We are very adamant, as far as I am concerned.”
Yesterday, Tufton indicated that the chief medical officer was working on the new primary care model, which would determine posts, but would seek to provide further clarity on the union’s concerns today.
Working under the supervision of dental surgeons, dental interns engage in clinical training, community outreach, and administrative tasks, while dental surgeons diagnose and surgically treat diseases, injuries, and defects of the mouth, teeth, jaws, and face.