Minister of Health, Dr. Bheri Ramsaran, has stated that the Ministry of Health is not victimizing sacked Berbice doctor, Ramesh Jaikarran. Ramsaran referred Kaieteur News to the Guyana Medical Council (GMC) and Public Service Ministry (PSM), for further clarification about the issue of non- payment, which Jaikarran is claiming. “It can’t be somebody discriminating politically.”
“Was he on the job? I know they had some little boy masquerading as a doctor somewhere under he mother’s bottom house—I wonder if the police should go and arrest him.
“Working under he mother bottom house somewhere? Mahadeo don’t work there and Mahadeo can’t get them records…you got to find some way of getting the information.” “Let him show you the documents he got and how much he owes the Guyanese people.”
When asked why the young doctor was dismissed, the Minister stated, “I don’t know—the Ministry of Health does not deal with that—that’s the PSM…MoH does not run health in this country.”
Jaikarran is taking the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Berbice Regional Health Authority (BRHA) as well as a former Doctor-in-Charge of the Skeldon Hospital to court for unpaid salaries between September and December, 2011.
Jaikarran, who was dismissed from practicing in the public health system in Guyana two years ago, has stepped forward to vent his frustration at what he claims to be the withholding of payment of salary and withholding of records that he is now trying to access to prove that he was employed at the Skeldon Hospital during the four-month- period.
BLACKLISTED
Jaikarran appeared on a Live TV programme recently in Berbice and claimed that he was stopped at the Cheddi Jagan International Airport (CJIA) from leaving the country. The Alliance for Change (AFC) is now rallying behind his cause. Further, he stated that he is being taken to court “for breaching his contract.”
“I won’t know his contractual obligations; who blacklisted him? I am now hearing these things”. Ramsaran stated that “all contracts by the government are run by the PSM and PSM does things according to law. If he is not paid, legitimately, he will have to make representation and there must be a reason why he was not paid and other people were paid—which other doctors got complaints?” said Ramsaran.
Jaikarran made several allegations about healthcare at Skeldon Hospital. He stated that oxygen—”It has been a norm. I blame the directors of medical services for not intervening when it comes to oxygen. Patients are left like 10—15 minutes without oxygen,” he claimed.
“I was being forced by senior nurses to send patients to private doctors—I wouldn’t mention name—for ultra sounds, to see gynecologists and I insisted that I was not going to do that because the institution has Cuban categorized specialists at N/A Hospital. I was being criticized greatly by the nurses for that,” Dr. Jaikarran said.
Dr. Jaikarran also claimed that he had issued a death certificate to someone who was murdered. “I gave them [the family] the certificate to go and bury the dead…and the police intervened and said they needed an autopsy and I agreed…The body was cut without my knowing—everything was done and they violated my death certificate. I voiced it at a meeting and told them it was disrespectful; and they said it was not—that a senior doctor did it.” He stated that they went ahead without his consultation and performed another autopsy. A government pathologist performed the second.
“I was told I was anti-government. I would explain to patients who come for drugs what’s going on in the region. I know it’s my responsibility to defend the medical system….but I am not going to see a shortage of basic drugs—I’ve written personal letters to say there are shortage of basic drugs and patients have died unnecessarily—there are negligence of nurses”, the young doctor said.
“We believe in leaving you to die without medical help. There is an epidemic going on in the region right now when it comes to people drinking poisons. On one occasion, he claimed that one surgeon was performing circumcision on children in a masjid in the Skeldon area.
“There was a high incidence of infections and complications and I was the only doctor that voiced my opinion because I wasn’t scared…”
He said that he threatened to let the families know how unsafe and unethical it was for the surgeries to take place in the masjid,” and I was told that I couldn’t do that…that certain things can’t happen.”
“There was once a case which was so ridiculous—you don’t have to be an honorary graduate from a medical school to know that. A 13- year- old boy was in the hospital and his parents wanted to take him to a private hospital; he had drunk poison. I was actually tending to him and the family requested to take him to a private hospital and the nurses asked my permission and I said, ’Why not? You are free to take your family. That is your legal right.’”
He claimed that he was told by a senior doctor (name given) that the child had to remain at the Skeldon Hospital. “They denied the person better medical assistance—I couldn’t accept that—I wasn’t trained that way! For God’s sake, if you study medicine that’s your job.”
Also, the doctor claimed that on several occasions, he had to refuse to admit patients since “there was no food at Skeldon Hospital.”
