The original article can be found on: Newsday By Richardson Dhalai
Should any doctor affiliated with the Medical Professionals Association of TT, (MPATT), be found guilty of “double- rostering” at medical institutions at the same time, would be hauled before the association’s disciplinary tribunal.
Newly elected head of the MPATT, Dr Shehenaz Mohammed, was responding to reports that the North West Regional Health Authority, (NWRHA), investigating overtime claims by doctors at the Port-of- Spain General Hospital, (PoSGH), was also looking into instances of double-rostering by several doctors.
The issue of “double rostering” was raised by PoSGH medical chief of staff, Dr Colin Furlonge, who, in a letter sent to PoSGH general manager, Human Resources, Stacey Sylvester titled “breaches of contract employment,” reference was made of “some house officers” who though rostered to work at the hospital were rostered to work at other RHA institutions.
Furlonge had noted that the “contract hours of work for medical officers are between 8am to 4pm from Mondays to Fridays. It is to be noted that some house officers, from some departments including Obstetrics and Gynaecology were rostered for duties in other RHA institutions, from 3pm, clearly a breach of contract of employment. (Those claims can be found at the finance department of the North West Regional Health Authority).”
In a telephone interview, Mohammed described double – rostering as “wrong under any circumstances” and “especially so in medicine because you are dealing with patients lives.”
“If that is true, then I would be surprised if there are many doctors involved, the vast majority of doctors are committed to their service,” she said.
“I have been asking the CEO to discuss this and the results of the internal audit and I wish to reassure the public that if any members of MPATT are found guilty, they will be brought before a disciplinary committee, our disciplinary tribunal,” she said.Mohammed said during a meeting with the association’s membership last Thursday, a doctor had been advised by MPATT executive that private practice , after the hours of 4pm, was “unsafe practice and it is highly unadvisable.”
“Unsafe, unethical and highly unadvisable,” she said, adding, “patient care can be compromised.”.
Meanwhile, in a brief telephone interview, Dr Furlonge said the “issue arose when reviewing rosters for both Port-of-Spain and the Accident and Emergency, St James and the San Fernando Hospital.”
“There were doctors contracted to work in Port-of-Spain until 4pm, yet they had rostered presented that they were in fact in the Accident and Emergency in St James from 3pm,” he said, adding, “to me that seems to be inappropriate, so I raised queries and informed the CEO and was advised by the CEO because of the extensive overtime claims in Port-of-Spain, as a result of the rostering from the previous administration, and with these issues they had embarked on an audit.”
“The issue of people being elsewhere whilst being assigned to perform surgery in Port-of-Spain Hospital raises serious questions,” he said.
“Until the audit is complete, I will be awaiting guidance from the NWRHA as to how it should be proceeded with,” Furlonge said, adding , “to date, I have not been informed of the completion, or the recommendations or the extent to which the audit has expanded.”“In my mind, this only applies to very few doctors, unfortunately, some doctors innocently have to wait until the matter is resolved, one hopes it will be resolved in the very near future, such as the doctors who have worked hard and are genuinely entitled to their overtime payments,” he said.
