QUEEN ELIZABETH HOSPITAL (QEH) DOCTORS on short leave will not be replaced, overtime payments will be cut and there may be revenue-producing measures.
These are some of the early cost-saving measures to be implemented at Barbados’ main hospital as Government, doctors, and medical staff seek ways of making up for the $35 million taken from the budget of that institution, according to Minister of Health John Boyce.
Speaking to members of the Democratic Labour Party’s Christ Church South branch Sunday, Boyce stressed that cost reduction measures at QEH were being taken in consultation with the Barbados Association of Medical Practitioners, the Medical Staff Committee, and the Barbados Registered Nurses Association.
“We as a team have identified opportunities to save considerable sums of money. We’re talking in the region of six, $10 million already in overtime and relief payments we believe we can cut back on. I’m not saying we can save all of it,” he said at the St Lawrence Primary School.