MEMBERS of Nurses Association of Jamaica are seething over the failure of the Ministry of Finance to complete talks on outstanding compensation review items.

According to NAJ President Dawn-Marie Richards, for the past two years the nurses have been trying to get the ministry to settle the outstanding items.

“We had our last meeting with the Ministry of Finance on the 2nd of April, 2024 [and] at that meeting some decisions should have been taken. We are not sure what is happening because since that meeting we have not been able to meet with the minister again, or any member of his team.

“We don’t know why we have not been able to meet with him or any member of his team because we were promised [a] meeting at the end of April [but] that meeting did not materialise,” said Richards.

She said she was invited to a meeting with the finance ministry’s team for May 2 but that meeting did not take place.

“I have written to the Ministry of Finance, I have written to the Ministry of Health and Wellness, and to date the matter has continued,” added Richards.

The NAJ president said she recently received a letter from the finance ministry but that did not speak to the concerns of the nurses which include the implementation date for the outstanding extra work hours policy, and the uniform policy.

“We are now demanding a meeting with the Ministry of Finance and the Public Service. We need to know from the ministry…what next — and we need to know that urgently,” said Richards as she pointed out that a meeting of NAJ on Thursday was to decide what the next step is for the nurses.

But Richards was quick to point out that a strike by the nurses is not on the table at this time.

“We are not looking at the withdrawal of services, that is not where we are going. As we would have said earlier, it is not about affecting patient care, that is not what it is about. It is about seeing to the welfare of the nurses of Jamaica,” declared Richards as she urged Minister of Finance Dr Nigel Clarke to contact NAJ urgently.