Hospital with no doctor on duty in Batam

There was no medical treatment for patients at the hospital in Batam yesterday.

This was because all specialist doctors working at the Embung Fatimah Regional General Hospital (government hospital) in Batam, Riau Islands went on strike.

The Jakarta Post today reported the medical specialists were up in protest against the hospital administration which they claimed had yet to pay their medical service honoraria and incentives.

For the entire day, the hospital's specialist polyclinics stopped accepting patients as no doctor was on duty. As a result, patients came to the hospital were forced to seek treatment at other hospitals.

The medical specialists returned to work today.

The newspaper quoted one of the specialist doctors, Dewi P as saying she and other doctors had repeatedly asked the hospital director on the status of their outstanding honoraria.

"Our medical service honoraria have not been paid for a long time. We have never received a clear response whenever we pressed for its payment. The (Embung Fatimah Hospital) director has never provided a solution," she said.

During the protest, specialist doctors chose to stay in the front yard of the hospital, displaying banners expressing discontent on the payments which they claimed were outstanding since September last year.

Meanwhile, Batam Health Agency head Didi Kusumajadi admitted the honoraria payments were outstanding as the administration was waiting for clarity on new regulations. Nevertheless, the incentives had already been paid, he said.

Medical service honoraria of the doctors amount to more than US$374.56 per month per doctor on average.

-- BERNAMA