MINISTER of Health Dr. Bheri Ramsaran and Chairperson of the Guyana Medical Council(GMC),  Dr. Vivienne Mitchell, have both expressed their displeasure at yesterday’s Kaieteur News article headlined: “Medical Council finds unregistered doctors working in public health facility”.

And  Dr. Mitchell, in  an e-mail to the Minister of Health in her capacity  as Chairperson of the Guyana Medical Council, stated: “Minister, I was not responsible for that disastrous article.  Deepest apologies. Dr. Mitchell”.
The Kaieteur News in its article had alleged  that the GMC had accused the Ministry of Health of breaching legal health protocol, with specific reference to the practice of local doctors.
However, Minister of Health Dr. Ramsaran stated during a telephone interview with the Chronicle that he has been led to believe that Dr. Mitchell is uncomfortable with the emerging “non-issue” which could only have been conjured up a few days ago following his very clear, informative and comprehensive press briefing.
He further said that “he deducts that she is implying some unnecessary mischief is being pursued and that this is not at the initiative of the Guyana Medical Council.”
The Kaieteur News article had also  stated that the GMC is accusing Chief Medical Officer Dr. Shamdeo Persaud of violating criminal laws on the same subject. It claimed  that the CMO had agreed to have the recently returned Cuban-trained medical doctors registered but failed to provide the Council with the necessary documents, but instead approved the employment of the unregistered doctors to regional hospitals.
The Health Minister, in refuting such allegations, explained that the process is an ongoing one and the ministry has been doing this for decades. He stated that the trained doctors have to be registered by the Health Ministry and the Guyana Medical Council.
Dr. Ramsaran made it very clear that the Ministry of Health deploys doctors and not the Chief Medical Officer and  these doctors are deployed on contracts. When these doctors would have been placed at the various health facilities around the country, they have to report to the head doctor at that  hospital,  who will then make notes and do evaluations on a regular basis.
In the meantime, the Minister of Health and the Chairperson  of the Guyana Medical Council are hoping that there will be no more articles with misinformation published in the future.