SUVA (The Fiji Times/PINA) — Fiji public hospital doctors, operating on a work-to-rule basis, have rejected a Public Service Commission proposal to address their grievances.
The doctors say they will continue their protest until their grievances are addressed collectively. But the doctors have organized themselves to ensure essential services are not disrupted.
“There are two options, they either pay us what we’re owed or they recruit more personnel. Either way, it will be the people who benefit,’’ a doctor said.
“Their proposal does not address the core of our complaint.”
The government has been asked to review the F$1.20 per night on-call rate hospital doctors have been receiving for years. Private practitioners receive F$35 per hour when they offer their services.
The doctors have rejected a payment system which sees an across-the-board 12.5 percent application on their salary for on-call duties.
They believe they should be remunerated according to their actual work, with some doctors having to do lots of on-call work and others only a little.
Meanwhile, Fiji Medical Association President Mary Schramm said the association had never claimed it had the authority to bargain on behalf of its members.
“The (association) has been playing a facilitative role to assist its members in finding a way to put forward their case, without compromising their professional commitment to provide care for those in need,’’ she said.
