He commended the effort of the minister and assured him of their commitment in ensuring that they provide quality health care services to the people of Sierra Leone.
Responding, the Minister of Health and Sanitation, Dr. Alpha Tejan Wurie informed the Junior Doctors that their concerns will be addressed as stipulated and that the government has accepted to pay a bio-hazard allowance as they were trained to prevent such hazards.
On location allowance, the Minister stated that it is time doctors serve Sierra Leone and not only the Western Area, adding that 42 percent of all health workers are based in the Western Area and those in the provinces only in urban settings. He said what they have addressed is the full fledge package of the health system including Pharmacists, Midwives, Nurses, Community Health Officers (CHOs) etc. and that he hopes that 2019 would see a major change in the health sector.
He told the doctors that the Ministry will also address the change of management at the Connaught Hospital and that similar changes will be effected in all the other tertiary hospitals including the Princess Christian Maternity Hospital (PCMH) and Ola During Hospital.
The Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Amara Jambai told the doctors that during their last meeting they put in place modalities for them to get from the Ministry of Finance an increase, but advised them to wait for that to be reflected in their pay packages.
He added that apart from increment, they are all expecting positive changes at the end of January this year, and that when they do an assessment they would see whether it is agreeable or not.
