Today, services at the country's national referral hospital - the KHMH - were cut back -after workers launched a kind of go-slow because government has not agreed to give them a 6% raise. As we've been reporting, the KHMH's 579 staffers are not considered public officers - so they did not qualify for the raises of pay given to public officers for the last two years. The Chairman of the KHMH Board of Governors made a special appeal to Cabinet on Tuesday - but the answer came back that the workers would have to form a bargaining unit - a union, just like the Teachers or Public Service Union.
That may be the legitimate process, but these workers feel they are long overdue, and the union requirement is just one more brush off. So, last night they announced that effective today all Outpatient Elective Services and Surgeries referred to the KHMHA would be cancelled. So what happened this morning?
Emergency care was un-interrupted, the day to day running of the wards continued without any glitches, clerk windows were open, but the clinics were closed, and no elective surgeries were performed, only urgent and emergency cases.
That's an administrative emergency for the Ministry of Health and today we asked the CEO what's happening, and how long it will last:..
Jules Vasquez
"What is the state of operation right now at the KHMH, sir do you know?"
Dr. Peter Allen, CEO - Ministry of Health
"Actually I don't know. I am a little surprised that any action is considered quite so soon. As far as I am aware, the board, as you know Karl Heusner is a statue authority with its own management and its own board of directors. As far as I am aware, there's been no formal communication or correspondence yet with the board of directors or with the management, but I shall certainly check that this morning and normally of course that would be the first thing that's done before any action is taken."
Jules Vasquez
"We are told that the response from the cabinet is that the KHMH 600 employees will not get the 6% they are asking for. Not at this time."
Dr. Peter Allen, CEO - Ministry of Health
"What I understood from the cabinet meeting essentially was that the way the process works for public officers was that an negotiating team sat down with the representatives of the public officers and looked at different efficiencies that could be made within the system and that possibilities in which revenues could be increased and that for those revenues that were increased and for efficiencies that were made, then a team of public officers and members of the government negotiating team would evaluate what was the increase and what could be distributed as salary raisers amongst public officers. My understanding was that cabinet essentially said let us follow the same process for Karl Heusner."
Jules Vasquez
"However, understandable, this have to have a process, but you can understand if every other worker in the health sector, every public clinic, every polyclinic - every health worker has gotten 19% in two years and the 600 persons that KHMH which is really the pivot upon which the entire health system operates. You can understand their impatience if they haven't gotten anything and are being told perhaps rightly that for 6% you must do things in a proper orderly fashion - we can't just throw 6% at you."
Dr. Peter Allen, CEO - Ministry of Health
"I agree with you and I think that's the point that I can certainly understand the staff requesting the same salary increases as other people doing similar jobs in the wider public service. I think the figure that was approximately being use was around about 2 million dollars. But it's recurrent. So, its 2 million a year to the recurrent budget. So, I think cabinet showed what I would characterized as "reasonable caution" to say yes we understand, but let us see how we can look at ways that Karl Heusner can serve the public even better than it does already."
Jules Vasquez
"Sir, but from the public's perspective, the public wants to know how long will my elective surgery be delayed or how long will my specialist clinic not be activated?"
Dr. Peter Allen, CEO - Ministry of Health
"Absolutely and I would certainly concur with the public on that. I myself use Karl Heusner as a patient and I would want to ask the same questions. As I say I am a little surprised that any action is being taken ahead of negotiations and so I would want to see if negotiations can be started that we do so at the very first opportunity."
The KHMH sent out a release this evening, saying, quote, "the KHMH…continues to provide the much needed emergency and critical care services to the public and reassures everyone that Emergency care, Urgent care and care for inpatients/hospitalized patients continues." IT adds, quote, "There is an agreement for discussions with the staff representatives to address their concerns. These discussions will include representatives from the Management team, Board of Governors, Ministry of Health and members of Cabinet."
The KHMH workers have formed a task force comprising a cross section representing of all employees. They will form a KHMH workers' union?to negotiate on behalf of the employees.
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