One hundred and twenty-nine days after being officially warned of possible dismissal, the fate of a senior medical specialist employed by the state-owned Queen Elizabeth Hospital (QEH) remains in limbo.
A well-placed source in the Barbados Association of Medical Practitioners (BAMP) revealed this afternoon that the contractural dispute involving consultant surgeon Dr Maurice Walrond is still unresolved.
The source said the matter has been going on too long.
“It is unfortunate that this has been going on so long. There is a lot of legal wrangling going on,” the official source told Barbados TODAY.
The QEH administration has accused the doctor of speaking to the press without the expressed permission of the board as stipulated in employees’ contracts when on May 11 and May 12, he called into Starcom Network’s Down To Brass Tacks programme and made remarks which “have brought, or are likely to bring the QEHB [Queen Elizabeth Hospital Board] into disrepute”.
In a letter to Dr Walrond dated May 18, 2020, QEH Executive Chairman Juliette Bynoe-Sutherland informed him that disciplinary action was being contemplated and could include possible dismissal.
“The offence for which you have been charged at paragraph 1 of this letter is a major offence. If the charge against you is upheld, it may result in disciplinary action against you as provided at rule 5.2.1 of the Terms and Conditions, up to, and including dismissal as provided by rule 5.2.28 of the Terms and Conditions,” Bynoe-Sutherland wrote in her correspondence to Walrond.
Speaking on behalf of a group of fellow surgeons, Walrond called the programme and lamented the inadequacies of the operating theatres at the QEH. He also called for the hospital’s leadership to do more to keep the environment COVID-19-free.
The consultant general surgeon also suggested that patients who were COVID-19 positive but needed general surgery could find themselves at risk if transferred to the QEH for surgical procedures.
He told listeners to the call-in radio programme that 11 colleagues from the Department of Surgery had put their signatures to a letter sent to Government itemizing their concerns.
But the Executive Chairman had told Walrond in her letter that his statements, made without her expressed permission, were in breach or violation of rule 4.9.1 of the Code of Conduct set out in the Terms and Conditions of Service for Employees of the QEH.
She had also informed him that an enquiry would be launched into the alleged offence or misconduct and he was told of various rights available to him.
When contacted today the hospital’s CEO reiterated an earlier policy that the QEH does not discuss matters involving employees in public only to say that Dr Walrond remains a valued member of the team.
Dr Walrond himself could not be reached. (emmanueljoseph@barbadostoday.bb)
