After negotiations with the Ministry of Labour and Social Security, junior doctors islandwide agreed to return to work, starting with the 6:00 pm shift on Monday, bringing an end to a sickout that caused major disruptions and great inconvenience to patients in the public health sector.

Many patients who went to public hospitals and clinics to seek medical care were forced to return home without being treated. Among them was 83-year-old Melbourne Thompson who told the Jamaica Observer that he travelled from Lawrence Tavern in the hills of St Andrew to see an ‘eye doctor’. He left Kingston Public Hospital (KPH) disappointed as a result of junior doctors calling in sick.

“I have cataract and I went to the eye clinic and they said doctors are on strike. I can’t get fi look about the eye and I have to move up and down. They admitted me from the other day and today I came to get the cataract scraped from the eye. They put off the procedure three times before. Today makes the fourth time they put it off. I have to now go and take a Jamaica Urban Transit Company bus to go back on the hill,” Thompson lamented.

A 59-year-old wheelchair-bound man explained to the Observer that he travelled from St Elizabeth to try and sort out problems he has with his joints at KPH but was left frustrated after learning that no doctor would be able to see him. The only option he was left with was to take the long trek back to the breadbasket parish.

“I come all the way from St Elizabeth and a somebody have to carry me. I am frustrated. My joints have a problem so I can’t do any walking. I need to sort it out so that I can move around. The Government needs to treat the doctors better than how they are being treated. They have families to take care of. At the same time, the doctors are not supposed to burden us because of that. They became doctors to take care of people’s health. I have to go home now because it doesn’t make any sense to wait. They said I should come back when the strike is over,” he said.

The Ministry of Health and Wellness on Monday confirmed that public health facilities islandwide had begun operating under emergency protocols due to the junior doctors calling in sick.

Emergency rooms remained opened but patient services and elective surgeries were scaled down significantly or suspended. The ministry said that every effort was being made to mitigate the impact of the sickout on the health system.

The statement said there are plans to reschedule elective procedures and outpatient appointments at hospitals. In order to support the public during this time, the ministry advised that people avoid hospitals where possible. It said that for non-urgent medical advice, patients should contact private physicians, maintain health precaution and follow basic hygiene practices, including frequent hand washing. The ministry also advised that people with existing medical conditions should ensure they take prescribed medication, adhere to treatment plans and access emergency care responsibly.

In life-threatening situations, the ministry said people should visit their nearest emergency department and for cases that are not urgent, they should contact their private physician.

“So far today, there has been a reported 16 per cent doctor turnout in primary care in the Western Regional Health Authority and 28 per cent in the North-East Regional Health Authority. The Southern Regional Health Authority has reported a 36 per cent turnout while Kingston and St Andrew have reported an 18 per cent turnout and St Thomas, 66 per cent, also in primary care. At the same time, there are some primary care and secondary care facilities that have reported as high as 100 per cent no show for their junior doctors,” the ministry said.

Up to noon on Monday, officials from the health ministry, the Ministry of Labour and Social Security, along with representatives of the Jamaica Medical Doctors Association (JMDA) were locked in a meeting to try and thrash out existing issues.

In a letter dated December 5, 2024 addressed to Minister of Finance and Public Service Fayval Williams, JMDA President Dr Renee Badroe expressed disappointment and growing frustration with continued delays in having the issue of overtime remuneration for JMDA members resolved. She said the concerns of doctors were being met with delay and flagrant disregard.

The Observer received a number of complaints from people in Kingston and St Andrew on Monday that they had taken the day off from work and basically wasted their time going to a hospital or a clinic for care.

“I had to take a day off from work to take my father to come and see the doctor but I heard that they are on strike. They gave us another date for next month and they said they are not even sure what will happen that time,” one woman told the Observer.

“The driver who brought us down here [from St Catherine], he is not going to be ready for now to take us back home. He knows that KPH is usually a whole day thing so he left to come back later. We have to walk and try to get a taxi,” she said.

Another woman who was at KPH also expressed frustration.

“I didn’t get through because of the strike. It affects me because I have to come back a next day. They said the situation might remain the same for the rest of the week, so I have to come back next week. If you don’t have any money you will suffer in Jamaica. I should be at work today. I didn’t go to work last week because I was sick. Work was supposed to start back this morning but because they said to come down here and make an appointment to start the clinic, I came and this is what I come buck up,” she said.

“They must pay the doctors. They are drawing tax out of our money so they need to pay them. You think it is easy for doctors to face up. Doctors have to face mad people and dirty people. They can’t turn back the madman even if he smells bad and is dirty. Doctors still have to look after him. I came to see the doctor on Monday and I never went home until Tuesday and I was not admitted. I had to sleep on a bench before I saw a doctor. Pain rocked me. Wheelchair people have to sit down until somebody dies or somebody goes home for a bed to be free. It is bad. People are suffering with health care in Jamaica,” she stressed.

At the Comprehensive Health Centre on Slipe Pen Road in Kingston, one pregnant woman had to head back home without receiving medical attention.

“I was here from early. I come to the antenatal clinic. Normally they would check the heartbeat. I heard that it was only one doctor around there. Normally they would check me and measure the belly and check the baby heart rate and all of that. It kind of turned me off because they could have said something. I have been waiting from a little after 7:00 am and now it is 15 minutes to 10. Normally I would gone home already,” she said.

One mother, who had taken her son to Bustamante Hospital for Children, said not being able to get through caused her some level of stress.

“It is kind of stressing because I just started my new job and I have to take the day and I have to come back again a next day. It is hectic. They said they cannot help me now because doctors called in and said they were not coming in, so we have to come back another day.”