The Dominica Public Service Union (DPSU) will be meeting with health workers over the potential impacts of the new Hospital Authority Bill which is due for implementation at the Dominica-China Friendship Hospital (DCFH).
DPSU General Secretary Thomas Letang stated that the bill will cover the administration and management of hospitals as well as the conditions for employment in all health facilities across the country.
Letang said the new bill will affect health professionals who among other public workers constitute the membership of the DPSU. He said the scheduled meeting is to discuss how the bill will impact on health workers as they discharge their duties within the healthcare sector, so that the improved performance and efficiency targeted by the bill will not be counter-productive.
He added that a lawyer will be present at the meeting so as to evaluate the legal implications of the bill and how hospital employees can respond to them. According to Letang, the bill must cater to two aspects which concern hospital workers directly – their existing terms and conditions of employment, and the improved performance and efficiency required for a responsive healthcare system.
Letang noted that with the implementation of the Hospital Authority Bill, the DCFH may no longer be managed by the Ministry of Health but by an independent government board. He said the DPSU is happy to colloborate with the government over the hospital bill, but will never support a situation where it impacts negatively on staffers and employees.
“Right now as an executive, we are seriously studying the implication that it will have for health,” he said. “We are looking at this thing on a very wide scope.”
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