Petrina Francis & Yahneake Sterling, Staff Reporters
Executive members of the Nurses Association of Jamaica (NAJ) and
officials from the Ministry of Finance have been summoned to an emergency meeting at the Ministry of Labour and Social Security in an effort to avert any further industrial action by disgruntled health care workers who stayed off the job yesterday.
Patient care was again affected at several hospitals across the island as nurses pressed the Government for better wages.
The Ministry of Health's public relations office said checks with several hospitals, including Victoria Jubilee, May Pen, Kingston Public, and Mandeville and Port Antonio Regional, indicated that nurses had called in sick. In some areas, no
registered nurse had reported for the 7:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. shift.
"This situation has now reached crisis proportions," the Health Ministry said.
Yesterday the University Hospital of the West Indies (UHWI) said it was only accepting dire emergency cases. The hospital also requested that relatives of patients visit the institution and assist with caring for them.
David Dobson, the chief executive officer at the Spanish Town Hospital, said operations at the institution were not disrupted. "The commitment of all levels of staff here allows us to be able to operate normally and we appreciate that," Mr. Dobson said.
The sickout seriously affected operations at the St. Ann's Bay Hospital where, throughout the day, only a skeleton staff comprising senior nurses and some enrolled assistant nurses were seen on the job.
Appeal to nurses
Linden Buchanan, chief executive officer for the St. Ann's Bay Hospital, said an assessment was being carried out by doctors on the effects of the protest action.
Health Minister Horace Dalley appealed to the nurses to return
to work and continue the
negotiations.
But NAJ president Edith Allwood-Anderson said the nurses would continue their action until their voices are heard.
"We are insistent that (Prime Minister) Portia Simpson Miller intervene because whatever it takes, we will continue to lobby," Mrs. Allwood-Anderson told The Gleaner yesterday.
The NAJ has been at odds with the Government over wages for several months. The association withdrew its membership from the Jamaica Confederation of Trade Unions (JCTU) to negotiate for salaries and fringe benefits for nurses on its own.
The NAJ had given the Government until June 30 to complete a wage and fringe benefits settlement, promote nurses who have been acting in positions for more than six months and provide a scarcity allowance for them.
The Finance Ministry offered the nurses a 22 per cent increase over two years but that was rejected. And scores of nurses then protested and stayed off the job. The Finance Ministry said it would examine the nurses' case. But a letter was sent to the NAJ Wednesday night, stating that the Government could not offer the nurses any increase beyond what was previously proposed.
Addressing the Rotary Club of Kingston weekly luncheon, held at the Jamaica Pegasus Hotel yesterday, Dr. John Hall, past president of the Medical Association of Jamaica (MAJ), said the Government was well aware that the health services could not function without an appropriate cadre of nurses. "And we the citizens need to be well aware of that as well and ensure that the Government meet our needs in that regard," Dr. Hall said.
Correspondent Rasbert Turner also contributed to this story.
