The Tribune

By SYANN THOMPSON

Tribune Staff Reporter

sthompson@tribunemedia.net

JUNIOR doctors, some nurses and other health staff were not paid their $1,400 lump sum up to Christmas Eve, but the PHA confirms that they are expected to be compensated before the end of 2019.

Prime Minister Hubert Minnis said last week that all junior doctors would receive the lump sum and last week the Public Hospitals Authority re-issued a letter to reflect the government’s decision after stating only “pensionable and permanent” junior doctors would be compensated.

To date, The Tribune understands that all pensionable and permanent junior doctors have received the lump sum, but those on contract have not.

PHA Deputy Managing Director, Lyrone Burrows explained that they have sent the information for payment to the Ministry of Finance to be processed not only for junior doctors but for various nurses and other health staff.

“A segment of the junior doctors would have already received their payment, those who are permanent and pensionable. The balance of them would be contract employees, those are still in works, but also incorporated nurses under contracted arrangement as well as some other group, process had to be validated. Also, in the first run the majority of the Bahamas Public Service Union would have received their lump sum. Some of their benefits would have been pro-rated because of the time they would have been with PHA. During that first payment, all of those numbers had to be validated and then put through to ministry of finance for approval,” said Mr Burrows.

Mr Burrows added that “all of those (lump sums for contracted staff) have been validated, we are waiting for confirmation of funding through the Ministry of Finance. We are pushing to have them done as quickly as possible. We are confident the matter will done completed before the end of 2019.”

Government workers who received the lump sum included Bahamas Public Service Union members, teachers, permanent weekly paid staff, uniformed branches, Public Hospitals Authority staff, including doctors and nurses. Those not included in this list are other government authorities and corporations, members of the Judiciary branch, contract workers hired outside the Public Service Commission, the 52-week programme employees, air traffic controllers, ministers and members of parliament.

On Facebook, Dr Sands replied to the issue last week stating: “All junior doctors will receive the promised payment and efforts are being made to ensure that they receive it in the next few days.”