WRHA facilities were reeling from junior doctors’ sickout, but…

Services were crippled at the Cornwall Regional Hospital (CRH) in Montego Bay, St James and other hospitals within the Western Regional Health Authority network as junior doctors staged a sickout on Monday.

The industrial action was taken by the junior doctors island-wide to pressure the Government to address compensation-related issues.

Clinical Coordinator of the Western Regional Health Authority, Dr Delroy Fray, called for a speedy resolution of the standoff as consultants, who now have been called upon to fill in for the striking junior doctors, are expected to soon become exhausted by the heavy workload.

Fray disclosed that currently there are 33 consultants on staff at the CRH where up to Sunday 324 patients were admitted.

"Now it is very important for the public to know that we cannot maintain this beyond 24 to 48 hours because we are going to get tired. So, I am making a strong plea for whatever is necessary to resolve this issue. We would love to see it resolved by this (Monday) evening. I am making a strong plea for this because it is going to have a severe impact on our patients," said Fray on Monday morning.

"Currently what we are doing, we go to the Accident and Emergency Department and the patients who don't need to be seen urgently will have to be sent home. And this not only affects the Cornwall Regional Hospital; we are seeing this also in Savanna-la-Mar Hospital; Noel Holmes Hospital, and in Falmouth as well. So it is in the western region as well," he added.

Indications are that the precarious situation may be coming to an end, as unconfirmed reports are that the junior doctors - at least in the WRHA - have been returning to work as at 6pm on Monday. However, there has so far been no indication of what may have led to the reported work resumption.