Queen Elizabeth Hospital still on strike

Barbados (CMC):

The industrial action by doctors employed by the Queen Elizabeth Hospital (QEH) continued yesterday even as Health Minister Donville Inniss said he was prepared to give the parties enough time to reach a settlement.

The doctors, whose protest action has now spread to include polyclinics, district, geriatric and psychiatric hospitals, have said they would continue dealing only with emergency cases.

President of the Barbados Association of Medical Practitioners (BAMP), Dr Carlos Chase, said while the doctors regretted having to expand their industrial action, there has been no official correspondence from the QEH board of directors or the health minister regarding the termination of the contract of radiologist Dr Cecil Rambarat, who had been with the hospital for 15 years.

"BAMP regrets that we have been forced to expand on the industrial action with immediate effect," he said, adding that "all members are hereby instructed to attend to emergency calls until further notice".

But QEH chairman, Reverend Guy Hewitt, said it was important for a speedy resolution to the matter.

"We know that what the Barbadian public is looking for is what the board is also looking for, and we are therefore hopefully going to get this matter resolved in the greater interest.

"And, hopefully, BAMP will recognise that it has a role in healthcare which is beyond just satisfying its professional needs and will come back to the table and sit down and start to work towards the public's good."

Inniss, who had been criticised by the main opposition Barbados Labour Party (BLP) leader Mia Mottley for leaving the island at the start of the impasse, said he is giving the board of the QEH enough time to solve the matter.

"I'm not going to get into all the details regarding this situation at this time. I am in constant contact with the board of the QEH, and these issues have been discussed seriously," he told the NATION newspaper.

"I have all confidence the board and management of the hospital can deal with these issues. I will speak to the nation about this when the time is right," Inniss said.

He also dismissed Mottley's claim that he had been on a Mediterranean cruise, saying "I am very much here in Barbados.

"I also worry, like any Barbadian, with anything to do with healthcare," he added.