Executives of the Public Hospitals Authority (PHA) met with junior doctors Monday who protested last week in an effort to “ease the tension” as it was announced recently that there is no money left in the budget to meet their demands.
PHA Managing Director Catherine Weech said while the discussions were amicable, there is not much that can be done at this time to address their concerns of pay increases, deteriorating working conditions and other benefits.
Weech reiterated that while the PHA’s budget remains relatively unchanged over the course of the last several years, annually, the organization is required to absorb the additional cost for the engagement of new physician interns and senior house officers.
The meetings, she said, were in an attempt to prevent the sit out action that took place twice last week for about two hours.
“We’ve had meetings with the junior doctors to continue to bring them to the table to address these matters. The meetings have been cordial and we will continue to address their issues as we move forward,” Weech said.
“I am not sure if there is much we can do at this point but we will work with them to state our position and allow policymakers to do what they can.”
