Health and Wellness Minister Dr. Christopher Tufton, says there has been no change in the budget for hiring doctors.
The Health Minister was scheduled to meet with other health officials today to determine the reasons more than one hundred doctors are currently unemployed.
Vice President of the Jamaica Medical Doctors Association, JMDA, Dr. Mindi Fitz Henley, told Nationwide News that she’s aware of 1-hundred and 3 doctors who are now out of work.
Some of the doctors had reportedly been offered contracts, only to be turned away when they showed up for work on July 1.
The Health Minister says it’s possible that there’s a level of administrative inefficiency.
Meanwhile, Dr. Tufton says there is more pressure on the public health system to hire locally-trained doctors because many who would’ve sought to migrate are no longer able to pursue that option.
Dr. Christopher Tufton, Minister of Health and Wellness.
He was speaking on Nationwide This Morning.
Meanwhile, Vice President of the Jamaica Medical Doctors’ Association, JMDA, Dr. Mindi Fitz-Henley, says the quality of care at public health institutions is being affected as dozens of doctors have suddenly found themselves out of a job.
According to Dr. Fitz-Henley, more than a hundred doctors have been affected by decisions to either not renew their contracts, or to renege on previous offers of employment.
She says this has resulted in critical shortages at public health institutions.
She says the level of care offered to the public will be affected.
The JMDA VP says the situation has affected the morale of doctors.
Dr. Mindi Fitz Henley, Vice President of the Jamaica Medical Doctors’ Association.
She was speaking on Nationwide This Morning with Kalilah Reynolds and Abka Fitz-Henley.
