Good news as continuous radiology and pharmacy services will be provided at the government hospitals after the Ministry of Civil Service gave an exemption to the staff on Band F salary scale and above to be paid overtime.
Permanent Secretary for Civil Service, Parmesh Chand says the matter is resolved after a discussion with the Ministry of Health.
Chand says based on the short staffing, it is understandable that the staff cannot take days off.
He also says no one wants these emergency health services to stop and they will go the extra mile to ensure the needs of the public are catered for.
Permanent Secretary for Health Doctor Jemesa Tudravu had earlier said that they have given the proposal to the Ministry of Civil Service to reconsider their new policy due to a staffing shortage.
Serious concerns were raised by the public as the Ministry of Health had decided that radiology services and pharmacies at Government hospitals and health centres close at 4.30pm after the recent circular from the Ministry of Civil Service.
The circular from the Ministry of Civil Service says that this is because of non-payment of Overtime for Band F staff, these officers will be utilizing their owing hours or Time-Off In Lieu (TOIL).
This meant that services like Ultrasound Scan, CT Scan, X-ray, or ANC Ultrasound were not available after 4.30pm to before 8am.
Doctors and nurses were also asked to check their patients’ charts and hand them in to the pharmacies before 4.30pm to get their dosages for the night until the morning.
We are awaiting comments from the Ministry of Health.
