Minister of Health & Wellness, Dr. the Hon. Christopher Tufton and executives from the Ministry – including the Permanent Secretary, Mr. Dunstan Bryan and Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Jacquiline Bisasor-McKenzie – met today with the Jamaica Medical Doctors Association (JMDA) to discuss several matters affecting members of the Association.
Among the issues discussed was the outstanding gratuity payments for doctors, which the parties have agreed to have satisfied by the end of August.
Also up for discussion was the potential breach of the Heads of Agreement between the Association and the Government, given the issuance of short-term contracts to some doctors. The Ministry will meet again with the JMDA tomorrow (Wednesday, June 30) to look at individual contracts for persons who have been offered six and one year contracts. This is to ascertain if there is any anomaly as it relates to the heads of agreement and to take the necessary remedial actions.
Further, the Ministry and the Regional Health Authorities will explore whether there are any available vacancies within the public health system that could be filled from among the 147 Senior House Officers, who were unsuccessful in obtaining a permanent post.