Bridgetown.
Negotiations between the Barbados Association of Medical Practitioners (BAMP) and the board of the Queen Elizabeth Hospital(BAMP) have broken down.
The negotiations were scheduled to address doctors' employment contracts, terms and conditions of their service, along with accountability and transparency in relation to the management of doctors at the island's lone hospital.
BAMP and the QEH board met yesterday but in a prepared text, BAMP stated that the negotiations had broken and accused the board of refusing to engage in dialogue with them.While the board denied this adding that it could not discuss salary increases and was leaving the door open for further discussion.
"We were very disappointed that board has now determined that they are not negotiating. We therefore consider these negotiations to have broken down, we must discuss these developments with our members to determine the way forward"BAMP said.
Chairman of the QEH board, Francis Depeiza, said the crux of yesterday's negotiations was BAMP desire for increased salaries and that the doctors had in fact got up from the table.
"They want to move the gratuities from 20 percent to 50 percent and they also want tenure, which also has cost implications, since there must be some pensionable consideration. The doctors want to have the best of both worlds", Depezia said.
