The original article can be found on: Antigua Observer By Shelton Daniel
ST JOHN’S, Antigua – One of the “junior doctors” employed at Mount St John’s Medical Centre says he is fed up with working arrangements and the attitude of those in charge.
Dr Leyland Powell told The Daily OBSERVER yesterday that these are among the reasons he has finally decided to brave the disciplinary consequences that could befall him and speak out.
He said his views on these matters are shared by nearly all the other “house officers” (the official designation for the hospital’s junior doctors), although most of his peers are unlikely to publicly vent the struggles they must endure daily at Mount St John’s.
According to Dr Powell, there is a shortage of doctors, to which hospital administration seems to have only one answer; forcing the house officers to work almost beyond the limits of their human endurance.
By Dr Powell’s reckoning, he presently works about 320 hours a month according to the roster set by his bosses. Actually the figures he supplied us (24×15) add up to 360.
Further, he said the working hours were increased without any consultation with him or the other house officers so affected.
“We used to work three days a week and then get a day off. He (the medical director) introduced another shift without any consultation . . . saying we were not working 40 hours a week. I was working one-in-two, meaning you’re on call for 24 hours one day and off the next day.”Dr Powell explained these “off” days do not mean that the doctor does not still work. Instead he said, he still has to go to the hospital and “make the rounds seeing patients”, but after the cut-off time on that day (usually between midday and 4 pm) the hospital cannot summon you back to work like when you are “on call.”
He elaborated: “Only if you are off on a weekend then you wouldn’t go at all. But if you are off during the week, you still go and do your regular hours of work. You’re just not called after those hours.”
Powell said, “As usual nobody complained, so I had no choice but to comply, which I did and it didn’t kill me. But now I have been shifted to surgery, and I was called to a meeting today, along with a colleague.”
He said the medical director at that meeting told them of his having learned that they had not been “sleeping in” at the hospital, which they confirmed as being true.
“We have, time and time again, made it clear as individuals and as a group. He (the medical director) claimed that all other house officers are doing it, but my colleague who is relatively senior pointed out that other house officers have been coming to him to complain that this is wrong.”Dr Powell claimed that “most of the house officers are fearful of losing their jobs. You can’t say anything. You don’t have any voice in any policy-making.”
He said the meeting ended with the medical director making clear to them if they don’t want to sleep in, then there’s no place for them at Mount St John’s.
“Why does he have the right to tell me that I should sleep in and he’s not sleeping in? For one, I am not doing a residency. I can do this job for 15 more years and I’ll still be a house officer. They will tell you that in other hospitals around the world the residents sleep in. That is true, but I’m not a resident. That is a very important factor.”
Dr Powell believes the requirement for house officers to sleep in at the hospital when on duty is unfair, since the more senior surgeons (whose presence would be essential in the event of certain emergencies) are allowed to go home. He said it does not make sense exhausting doctors, thereby rendering them more prone to errors.
Determined to have his story told, Dr Powell added that it is necessary for the public to know who really is to blame for the often poor and slow service at the hospital, especially in such areas as the emergency and outpatient departments.
Other house officers at Mount St John’s, who do not want to be identified, have called to confirm that what Dr Powell said was true, and that they are in support of his position.
Some are of the view that Powell’s decision to go public was a good move that will persuade the hospital’s administration to act more speedily in addressing the house officers’ concerns.
Meantime, authorities at the hospital have expressed a willingness to negotiate with the house officers.
OBSERVER has learned that a meeting was held yesterday morning involving the hospital’s chief executive and medical director, while the house officers were represented by doctors Dr Powell and Ignobia Elvis. The next meeting, we understand, has been scheduled for Thursday.
