There are many issues that affect our doctors

Dear Editor,
It has come to my realisation that, over the last few years, the Cuban-trained doctors have become the whipping donkeys of the medical profession.
Recently, there was an interview with Dr Shamdeo Persaud, in which they again came under criticism and condemnation.
Having friends and relatives in the medical field, I have had a first-hand look at what is currently going on in this flawed system.
I wish to address a few of my concerns of fellow colleagues in this profession:
Doctors are exposing their lives on a daily basis to help to serve our nation, and some may say that this is a choice that they willingly made. However, they are also humans.
I wish to make reference to the attack made on doctors of the West Demerara Regional Hospital last year May, when they were promised justice in a particular matter. They were given all assurance by the Minister of Health that the culprits would be brought to justice; yet, more than a year later, this matter has been swept under the rug and has been completely forgotten.
It was rumoured that, since the night of the incident, several pleas were made to have the Police dismiss the matter, because relatives were willing to pay to have it done.
My next reference is to doctors who are under contract and are desirous of travelling. This process is quite an extensive one: because approval has to be granted in writing; then the doctors, after having obtained the relevant documents, have to wait at the airport like deportees before they can be granted permission to leave; and the process is the same even while returning on the stipulated dates.
I also wish to make reference to the doctors who have matters pending with the Medical Council of Guyana. Some matters have been pending for years. One such matter, which I wish to discuss, involved a doctor who was taken up by a colleague for medical misconduct.
This matter caught my attention because of the mature of the complaint and the extent that I was told the doctor who is the victim has gone to get some sort of satisfaction.
It is said that the doctor has received bomb threats from a colleague, and at one point is time, this said doctor even paid someone to meet the female doctor and sexually assault her.
This matter was reported to the Police, and as such, the evidence was acquired and the Medical Council was informed of the findings of the Police. Yet, to date, nothing has been done.
The said doctor has now resorted to social media to impersonate her colleague. I was informed that even this information was given to the Medical Council, but after two years, nothing was done.
What is also surprising about this matter is that other doctors are being targeted by the doctor in question. I took it upon myself to visit the Facebook page of the doctor, and I was not only appalled but disgusted by the language and the content of the things that were written on her page.
I therefore ask myself and others: Is she really a doctor??? Aren’t doctors governed by some sort of code of conduct? Is this acceptable behaviour in the medical profession?
This is someone who is dealing with the lives of hundreds, do doctors have to go through any kind of yearly psychological evaluation before they are issued with a medical licence? Because this is a clear cut case where psychological evaluation is not only needed, but required.
Another issue which was highlighted was the signing of books, as was discussed by the CMO, Dr Persaud.
I was informed that many doctors, after graduating, were never assigned a senior doctor in charge of them, especially in the far-off regions of Guyana. They are the ones who were overlooking their own supervision.
Many doctors complain of the deplorable conditions in which they are forced to work, and are being victimised when they speak out.
Some doctors even spoke about programmes for which they receive international funding, but nothing is filtered down to their departments. Yet they are being asked to tell lies when the international bodies visit, and when they do not comply…
We heard many false promises being made to doctors. There are many issues that affect our doctors; and, sadly, they have no union representation and they are not allowed to strike, based on Public Service rules.
Meanwhile, many of these doctors are soon to be off Government contract, and the sad reality is that many do not plan to remain in Guyana. Basically, we are training our doctors so that they can develop other countries, because they are unhappy with the current situation.
I would, however, like to suggest that a meeting be held, not only with these doctors, but the nurses who also face similar plights. After all, happy doctors and nurses equal happy patients.

Sincerely,
Concerned citizen
(Name withheld)