There were major disruptions to the island’s health sector on Friday as medical doctors carried out their threat of industrial action over the prolonged delay by the Industrial Disputes Tribunal in the ruling of their ongoing dispute with the government in relation to overtime payments and related matters.
Hospital administrators across the island were in full crisis mode as they sought to ensure that patients badly in need of health care received the service.
This, as the doctors are carried out with their threat to stay off the job today if the IDT failed to deliver its ruling in their impasse with the government.
The IDT had indicated that it could not meet Friday’s deadline demanded by the doctors and requested more time to deliver its ruling.
The Jamaica Medical Doctors’ Association (JMDA), the body which represents the doctors, had warned the public to expect longer wait times, reduced services and delays in the completion of medical procedures starting 8 a.m. Friday 8 a.m. Saturday.
The JMDA said during the 24-hour period, only emergency services will be provided.
The Ministry of Health and Wellness has sought to reassure the public that emergency and essential health services will remain available during the period of disruption.
In a statement Friday, the South East Regional Health Authority (SERHA) reported that hospitals and health centres in St. Andrew, Kingston, St. Thomas and St. Catherine are operating in emergency mode following the withdrawal of services by the doctors.
SERHA said the priority is being given to patients requiring emergency and urgent medical care, adding that it has implemented measures across its hospitals and health centres to minimise disruptions and safeguard patient care by prioritising the use of available personnel and resources.
It said persons presenting with life threatening and other serious medical emergencies will be prioritised.
The Authority added that care and treatment for patients already admitted to hospitals, including those in intensive care units, will continue.
Additionally, SERHA said non-emergency and routine services may be delayed, reduced or rescheduled, and patients may experience longer wait times.
It advised persons experiencing a medical emergency to proceed to the nearest accident and emergency department without delay.
In the meantime, Health Minister Dr. Christopher Tufton said the regional health authorities, which oversee the management of the island’s health centres and hospitals, have reported no adverse events as a result of the protest action.
He said health facilities across the island entered emergency mode on Friday and were prioritising patients presenting
with life-threatening and other serious medical emergencies and patients already admitted to hospital, including in intensive care units.
The regions noted that elective surgeries for Friday were cancelled and some patients were discharged.
“The reports that I have received suggest that the system was able to hold up today. Challenges, of course, in terms of the numbers and the pressures on those who were active on duty. But the consultants came in, they did what they had to do. Ward rounds were done. Patients got medication for the inpatient care. The A&E would have been the pain point because to the extent that these are unexpected occurrences, we would have had to treat with them as they come in and we would have had to make some provisions. In some cases, we brought in sessionals, meaning non-staff medical personnel, of course, but the consultants would have provided the overall leadership,” he noted.
St. Ann health officials said they are operating in emergency mode.
Of the 69 medical doctors expected for duties on Friday, only four turned up.
Senior Medical Officer for the St. Ann’s Bay Regional Hospital, Dr. Tanya Hamilton Johnson, told Radio Jamaica News that several appointments had to be rescheduled.
“The clinic services would have been impacted. We would have rescheduled patients. We would have normally had three clinics available for today. As a result, 100 patients were rescheduled to be seen at another time. There are no elective surgeries will be done, only emergency surges would be done. Only emergency cases would be seen in the Accident and Emergency, namely the emergency severity index 1, 2, and 3. And this will be after a strict triage process. In our hospital presently, we have 234 patients in hospital with overcapacity being experienced on the med surgery as well as the maternity ward,” Dr. Hamilton Johnson reported.
The psychiatry and pathology departments were reportedly not affected by the withdrawal of service.
In St. Mary, only three junior doctors showed up for work at Port Maria Hospital on Friday. When the news teams visited the facility, there were very few patients but operations appeared to be functioning as normal.
In Western Jamaica, hospital administrators said contingency plans are working, with senior medical staff stepping in to maintain critical services.