Petrina Francis, Staff Reporter

Dr. Winston Davidson (right), past president of the Medical Association of Jamaica (MAJ), addresses a Gleaner Editors' Forum yesterday. Looking on are Dr. John Hall (centre), immediate past president of the MAJ, and Dr. Alverston Bailey, president of the MAJ. - Norman Grindley/Deputy Chief Photographer

After spending years in medical school and accumulating millions of dollars in debt, some medical doctors are operating without security of tenure and are being called casual labourers, according to Dr. Alverston Bailey, president of the Medical Association of Jamaica (MAJ).

Speaking yesterday at a Gleaner Editors' Forum, held at the newspaper's North Street, central Kingston, head office, Dr. Bailey explained that most doctors are employed on contract, and this lack of security of tenure pushes them out of the system.

The forum was called to discuss some of the critical issues a future government will have to address. "Many of the doctors in the system are called casual labourers," Dr. Bailey said, noting that most doctors are given contracts by the Regional Health Authorities.

Termination letter

He pointed to a case where a doctor was presented with a termination letter, stating that he was dismissed because he was a casual labourer.

Dr. Bailey said there was not a shortage of medical doctors in Jamaica.

"(But) many of the doctors in the hospitals do not have no tenure, therefore, they are not staying ... as they are now deemed as casual labourers, therefore they cannot remain in the system because they have no job security," he stressed.

The MAJ head cited a case where he approached a public hospital seeking a job for a primary care physician to work in Accident & Emergency and was told that the doctor would be paid $4,000 per day for an eight-hour shift.

"A lot of doctors would be more than happy to work in the Accident & Emergency department if the salaries were sensible. But this is ridiculous," Dr. Bailey told the forum.

"Which doctor in his right mind is going to A&E department and take home $4,000 a day? It doesn't make sense, a good mason or mechanic would do better," he said, adding that doctors do not migrate because they want to as most of them who are given posts, usually stay in the system.

And Dr. Rosemarie Wright-Pascoe, second vice-president of the MAJ said doctors who are on contracts do not have pensions and their contracts can be terminated at any time.

But Dr. Sheila Campbell-Forrester, Chief Medical Officer of Health said she was unaware of doctors being termed as casual labourers, adding that if Dr. Bailey has evidence of this happening, he should submit it to the ministry for them to investigate the matter.

Dr. Campbell-Forrester also noted that most doctors usually opt to be on contract because the terms are different and they have the option of terminating their contracts at any time.

Meanwhile, Dr. Bailey said some overseas doctors are employed as locum interns, without them having to do the qualifying examination.

"And that to me is unacceptable. In my opinion, if doctors are going to work in Jamaica, they should be asked to sit the qualifying examination first and then they register".

"But they can remain in the system for years without passing the qualifying exam (and) that cannot happen anywhere else in the world," he said.

Dr. Campbell-Forrester admitted that there were such doctors in the system but she noted that they usually do the examination after they have been attached to the system.

"We only utilise them when we have a gap," she said.

petrina.francis@gleanerjm.com