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‘No nonsense will be tolerated’ – Health DG cracks down on Region Six staff
(Kaieteur News) – Director General of the Ministry of Health, Dr. Vishwa Mahadeo, on Friday issued a stern warning to health administrators and medical staff in Region Six, declaring zero tolerance for unprofessional conduct, absenteeism and mediocre service within the public health system.
Addressing regional health authorities at the department’s 2025 year-in review, Mahadeo took aim at the myriad of concerns stymieing professionalism by health officials and medical practitioners, and the need for improvements.
Director General of the Health Ministry, Dr. Vishwa Mahadeo.
The director general reminded officers that this line of work requires nothing less than the best. To this end, he flagged absenteeism, punctuality and the habitual exploitation of sick leave, especially on the part of those in key roles. “When you took the job, you knew what were the conditions you would reach in this job. You knew what the emoluments are going to be like, what the benefits are going be like, plus you know what we expect of you. If you don’t want the work, you got two choices: one is you leave the work, or the work fire you. But you are expected to serve, and we’re not going to tolerate nonsense,” Dr. Mahadeo emphasised.
He cautioned against persons abusing the provisions of sick leave, noting that persons who are genuinely ill are allowed some time off from work. In many instances, persons would double-deal with medical officials to receive medical leave permits. Himself a medical doctor, the director general disclosed that this will be methodically addressed.
“There was a guy who sent in sick leave, working in another region, and got sick leave in a totally different region. I told my staff…send this person to the orthopedic consultant at Georgetown Hospital for a review. Inform the doctor who wrote the medical, and the one who sought the medical, that we are reviewing the case…in five minutes both of them were in RHS, begging to cancel the sick leave. What does it mean? The person wasn’t sick, was just riding the system…and it will not be tolerated,” Dr. Mahadeo affirmed.
Region Six health officials at last Friday’s meeting.
Moving forward, the government official informed the regional authorities that should the need for querying sick leaves arise, such will be doggedly pursued. In fact, Mahadeo noted that the public service regulations allow for such courses to be taken. He explained that the 28 days “so-called entitlement” is not actually an entitlement, but a consideration given for individuals who are sick.
Reminding them of the high standard established for punctuality, Mahadeo stressed that lateness will not be accepted. The public service rules, he shared, hold that a day’s 15 minutes with a half hour of the next day, and the hour for the following day with the 15 minutes of the other day, which, when added up to one day, a day’s pay could be deducted.
“In the fifteen minutes or the two hours that you are late to work, those who are disciplined and who come to work got to work extra. When a staff decides that they are going to stay home for stupidness, the good workers are the ones who suffer, because they have to pull the workload. As managers, you need to make sure that your staff understands this, and you need to make sure that you follow the rules,” Dr. Mahadeo advised.
Offering a general perception of the region’s delivery of health care services, the director-general acknowledged that the region has much more to do, but opined that Region Six is in a much better position now than it was several years ago.
Director of Regional Health Services Cerdel McWatt, Regional Chairman Junior Bassant, Regional Executive Officer Narindra Persaud, and Regional Health Officer Dr. Vineshri Khirodhar also delivered remarks at the event.
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- Absenteeism, health administrators, medical staff, Region Six, unprofessional conduct, Vishwa Mahadeo, zero tolerance
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