THE MEDICAL Association of Jamaica (MAJ) has signalled that it would be opposed to any move by the Government to replace the current 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. normal hours work arrangement for doctors with a more flexible work arrangement.

A highly placed Government source was quoted in The Sunday Gleaner as saying the State was considering changing the current agreement in order to have doctors work any eight hours in a day as a way of cutting back on overtime pay. The source said that it would save Government massive overtime payments that could be used to hire an additional 100 doctors and purchase more drugs for health facilities.

However, in a release above the name of its president, Dr Winston De La Haye, yesterday, the MAJ expressed strong opposition to the move.

Most effective method

"The current system of staff allocation for routine as well as emergency services has been proven over the years to be the most effective method of health-care delivery in a system with severe shortages such as ours," the MAJ said.

The organisation was responding directly to a claim that a report in one regional health authority found that doctors were swimming in the gravy of overtime payment. The report found that two-thirds of doctors' pay was 'overtime' payments.

Doctors in the public-health system receive a combined salary of basic pay, which is earned between their normal working hours of 8 a.m. and 4 p.m.; rostered payment for hours worked after 4 p.m.; sessions pay whenever they work in the accident and emergency department after their normal hours; on-call; and, other allowances.

"Early predictions are that if we were to engage the services of 100 new doctors, whether locally or overseas, the Ministry of Health would realise savings of $500 million which can be ploughed back into the health system to ensure that the citizens receive proper care. It would also greatly relieve the stress on those doctors that are overworked," the government official added.

Rejected the insinuation

However, the MAJ has rejected the insinuation that doctors are abusing the current pay system.

"A large proportion of physicians at hospitals work outside of their scheduled hours without compensation," the MAJ said.

It added: "The lack of adequate numbers of physicians employed in some areas and at some hospitals has resulted in a few physicians working extraordinarily long hours, for which they are compensated. It is, therefore, unfair to use these exceptions to the norm, resulting from fewer physicians being employed than required, to scapegoat the dedicated and hard-working doctors in our country," the MAJ said.

Meanwhile, the organisation expressed a willingness to work with Government to reduce the cost of administering health care in the country. At the same time, the MAJ has said that Government, too, must take the lead role in the process.

daraine.luton@gleanerjm.com