The Tribune

By LEANDRA ROLLE

Tribune Chief Reporter

lrolle@tribunemedia.net

KEY health unions are warning of a breakdown in the public healthcare system after the Public Hospitals Authority ran out of overtime money, leaving doctors, nurses and support staff facing delayed pay and prompting calls for workers to refuse extra shifts.

Consultant Physicians Staff Association president Dr Charelle Lockhart warned nurses are leaving “in droves”, not because they do not care about patients, but because they feel overworked.

The crisis erupted after a January 13 internal PHA memorandum warned that overtime payments would no longer be processed unless first approved by the managing director’s office — a move unions say amounts to punishing frontline staff for government mismanagement.

The Bahamas Nurses Union president Muriel Lightbourn and Bahamas Public Service Union president Kimsley Ferguson quickly urged members not to work beyond their scheduled shifts until outstanding overtime is paid, describing the situation as unacceptable and disrespectful.

PHA officials said the directive was necessary to preserve funding for urgent priorities, including critical hires, and to tighten oversight after the authority exhausted its overtime allocation.

Health and Wellness Minister Dr Michael Darville yesterday acknowledged the seriousness of the situation, calling the depleted budget a “great concern” and confirming that emergency meetings had been convened to “get a grip” on overtime gaps across healthcare facilities.

He said he could not yet say how much money is owed, blaming the backlog on acute staff shortages — particularly within the PHA’s finance department — caused by retirements and departures to the private sector. He said difficulties in replacing those workers had compounded the problem.

“I have taken this as a degree of urgency,” he said. “I'm of the view from those preliminary meetings that these outstanding overtime payment not only must be paid, but will be paid.”

Mr Ferguson, whose union represents PHA support staff, clerical workers, laboratory technicians and morgue employees, said the authority’s action contradicts the agreed overtime policy and breaches the industrial agreement.

In a voice note to members, he said the union was not consulted on the financial challenges and criticised management for failing to provide staff with certainty.

“While the managing director spoke, she gave no definitive date or time when payment will be made. This is disrespectful and unacceptable and will be met with every resistance,” he said, advising members not to work overtime until the matter is resolved.

Ms Lightbourn said the situation suggests management is attempting to decide after the fact whether staff should be paid for overtime already worked, describing it as a “slap in the face” to nurses.

“It’s management. It’s how you manage your funds. You already know that you have a shortage of staff. You already know that it's going to be costing you over time,” the nurses union president said, confirming that nurses had also been advised not to work beyond scheduled shifts.

She said the delays are the latest example of the government’s failure to prioritise healthcare workers, pointing to ongoing backlogs in paying nurses double-time holiday wages and promotion adjustments.

Dr Lockhart echoed those concerns, accusing the government of fiscal irresponsibility and failing to treat healthcare as a priority.

"The Consultant Physician Staff Association was warned by the PHA about the upcoming issues with payment for overtime and sessional shifts." Dr Lockhart said. 

"We are disappointed that the PHA is unable to meet its financial obligations at the end of this month. Senior Physicians remain committed to care for our patients as we have always been, however the government needs to prioritize healthcare including its financial obligations to the healthcare staff. 

Dr Lockhart said: "This situation if not addressed will not bode well in the future for healthcare in The Bahamas."

She said the CPSA would not instruct doctors to stop working, but warned that younger physicians are increasingly unwilling to tolerate poor treatment.

“I could use a colloquial term for the government — dog eat their lunch. They are in trouble because the new set of physicians, the new set of consultants coming in, are not going to put up with this crap, which is why they’re so short-staffed,” she added.

Dr Lockhart said she was not surprised the overtime budget had been exhausted. She explained that the emergency department, including paediatrics within the emergency department, rely daily on sessional staff — employees working beyond standard hours — because there are insufficient personnel to operate 24-hour services without them.

“The upper government, I think they really need to take stock of what's happening in medical care,” she said. “They have a grenade that the pin has been pulled, and it's just being waiting to be thrown and I’m afraid for them when the grenade gets thrown.”

Dr Darville said it is not unusual for healthcare budgets to be depleted, citing unforeseen pressures such as high admissions, outbreaks and infectious diseases that can quickly drain resources.

Meanwhile, in a memo circulated to staff on Friday, PHA managing director Dr Rolle acknowledged the inconvenience caused by the delayed payments and said a further update would be provided today.