Healthcare workers at the island’s smaller, less equipped hospitals seem to be hit hardest by a reduction of ‘sessions’ and overtime due to the restructuring of patient care caused by COVID-19.
Healthcare workers at the Type B Savanna-la-Mar Public General Hospital in Westmoreland were among the latest to feel the financial distress, after a letter from the hospital’s administration last Thursday advised that overtime work would be cut.
In the letter to divisional heads, a copy of which was obtained by The Sunday Gleaner, it was advised that the hospital had undergone a budget cut and thus a reduction in sessions was necessary.
Yesterday, Carmen Johnson, president of the Nurses Association of Jamaica, and Dr Elon Thompson, president of the Jamaica Medical Doctors Association, said they were both aware of disquiet over the overtime cuts at some hospitals.
Johnson explained, however, that sessions and overtime are based on needs, and some smaller hospitals, like Savanna-la-Mar General and Percy Junor Hospital in Mandeville, may have less need for nurses on overtime than a larger one such as the Kingston Public Hospital (KPH).
