Doctor Disputes Termination Conditions

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Health News

Friday, 03 February 2012 02:30

By caribarena news

Antigua St John's - Embattled physician Dr Leyland Powell has said recent statements that he was never employed by the Mount St John’s Medical Center, but was on secondment like several other doctors transferred from Holberton Hospital, are true, but as far as he is concerned, he was an employee, and was therefore “fired”.

Head of Marketing & Communications for MSJMC Salma Crump had a different perspective.

“I am not about to say that he was fired, because that wasn’t the case,” she said, adding that as far as Dr Powell’s complaints about having to sleep-in when working extended overnight shifts, MSJMC has not received any such protests from other doctors.

The contentious sleep-in policy which Dr Powell highlighted in his recent complaints to the media was instituted in June 2011. Crump said all junior doctors have been adhering to it.

In an interview with Caribarena.com on Thursday, Dr Powell said he was not at liberty to discuss the matter in detail, because he was still consulting with his lawyer.

“I am waiting on legal advice to see what they say,” he said.

Regarding the secondment issue, however, Dr Powell said, “I was fired from Mount St John’s. That is my place of work. Yes, I was on secondment, so it is not like I was fired out of a job, per se. But I was fired from Mount St John’s.”

Further, he said the government, his first employer, was not informed about the ending of the secondment, a detail which should not be overlooked. And, he said, the government was not involved in any of the negotiations since the decision taken by the hospital was made independently.

“They did what they did and they never informed the government," he said. "So yes, I am fired, because that is where I was working."

Dr Powell confirmed that aside from the termination letter, he also received a cheque up to January 30, 2012.

Concerning the commitment made on Thursday by Trade Unionist Dave Joseph and echoed by Industrial Relations Officer Ralph Potter, to offer industrial aid to the besieged physician, Dr Powell said he welcomed the gesture, but there has not been any contact with the union yet.

See related stories:

Unions Offer Support to Dismissed Doctor

Hospital Fires Outspoken Doctor

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