DHS Clarifies Internal Memo to Doctors

An internal memo from the Ministry of Health surfaced on Wednesday night. It follows statements made by the Attorney General Michael Peyrefitte hours earlier that doctors will no longer be able to double dip by practicing at private and public health facilities. As you know, a number of doctors straddle both and so it sent alarm through the healthcare system. And that is because not all specialized services are available in the public health system.  A memo dated April fifteenth, signed by the Director of Health Services Doctor Marvin Manzanero, is directed to established medical staff in the public health system and was sent to four regional management teams across the country. According to the document, all persons working at public health facilities are to suspend their private practice immediately in an effort to curtail the risk of exposure to COVID-19. Doctor Manzanero says the new measures are exclusively for health personnel who are employed at public hospitals.

Marvin Manzanero

Dr. Marvin Manzanero, Director of Health Services

“I don’t know why it came out into the private sector and then on social media; not that we are hiding anything, but it wasn’t the intended audience. Basically it was just highlighting what we had discussed with the different management teams. The last time we had this discussion was on Good Friday in our virtual meeting where we had asked that people for the time being refrain from engaging in both public and private sector. If you read the memo, it clearly indicates that the concern that we are having is once you become exposed in private sector and if you are asked to go in quarantine that puts you out of the system for three weeks. So we are asking for people to refrain from that because you can potentially jeopardise your entire health system if you have a lot of cross over in that regard.”