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GPSU received numerous complaints from doctors working overtime without proper compensation
Kaieteur News – The Guyana Public Service Union (GPSU) in a release on Tuesday said it is in receipt of a number of complaints from doctors across the country that they are working overtime without any proper compensation.
GPSU said it is in support of Deputy Speaker, Dr. Asha Kissoon’s budget presentation on behalf of Physicians, when she passionately condemned the treatment and conditions under which they are compelled to provide quality health care in the country.
The Union stated that a memorandum which was issued by the Ministry of Health on February 9, 2021, had instructed doctors that “to remedy the shortages of doctors and in an effort to reduce the burn out syndrome by doctors at the main facilities (Regional and District Hospitals) doctors from the primary health care facilities (Health Centers and Post) are required to support their colleagues by doing at least ten (10) on-call sessions monthly”.
The Union noted that this memo is evidence that doctors are “forced” to perform on-call duties after completing the normal eight hours shifts.
In receipt of a number of complaints from doctors throughout Guyana which confirm the statements made by the Deputy Speaker, GPSU explained that doctors, after completing their eight-hour shifts doctors are forced to embark on “illegal on-call duty” which ranges from 4 to 24-hours, depending on their location. “To add insult to injury these doctors around the country work for a meager GYD $250 (USD $1.20) per hour, which is taxable,” the Union pointed out.
GPSU said that the overtime rates posted in the table, carried by a local newspaper on January 28, 2024 titled “Asha Kissoon Misrepresents Facts By Giving Incomplete Information”, is far below the legal rates for overtime and is only paid to doctors performing duties at the Accident and Emergency Unit of GPHC.
“The arbitrary determination of a rate for overtime work is unlawful and similarly the arbitrary allocation of on-call rate is in conflict with laws of Guyana, International Labour Organization Conventions, and Collective Labour Agreements that deal with conditions of work,” GPSU explained.
The Union went on to highlight that interns at GPHC are not compensated for “on-call” hours. “It is important to note that doctors in other Caribbean Countries which are not oil rich are properly compensated for on-call duties,” GPSU related.
The Union in its release said Minister of Health, Dr. Frank Anthony was fully cognizant and critical of the issue while he was in Opposition, and now that he is in a position of authority, he should issue an apology and work to correct these grave injustices which still abound among the members of his fraternity.
GPSU mentioned that it has been forcefully representing this matter with both administrations and as recent in a letter dated February 8, 2023, addressed to the Health Minister, the Union stated that “the memo was not in keeping with the labour laws and Public Service Rules and it was grossly insensitive to other conditions”. It had issued a memo to its members on February 10, 2023 advising that they should be guided by the Laws and Rules that govern conditions of service.
To date, the Union said that the Minister has not responded to the plight of the workers, “hence Dr. Kissoon’s statement that the doctors’ complaints have fallen on ‘deaf ears’, is accurate,” the Union added.
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