Dear Editor,
I am writing this to express my concerns at various issues at the Cheddi Jagan Dental Centre.
Firstly, does the eight hours of work apply to all dental staff from (8:00- 4:30)? At all times the lower level staff (dentex, community dental therapist, dental assistants and auxiliary staff) are present at work for 8:00 am and leave at 4:30pm but the dental surgeons come at any time and leave at any time, the latest time being 2 pm. Are there exceptions to the public sector ministry rules? In addition, when the dental surgeons leave to attend to their private practice while still on the government time, the dental nurses are not allowed to attend to patients.
Secondly, the attitude towards patients and lower level staff is very atrocious from some doctors in the children’s section. Patients and staff are being verbally abused by the supervisor. Patients are being forced to dispose of their food and drink. I believe that there are young capable dental surgeons who can supervise in the children’s clinic, who are more kind toward patients.
Thirdly, there is always an issue of not having materials to work with, no tools. This has been going on for months. Imagine my daughter has a front tooth filling to do and after visiting several times it’s the same excuses, no material or we have to wait until the university students are available. When one asks to see the manager or someone in authority no one is available.
Can someone from the Ministry of Public Health and the Public Service Ministry kindly look into this matter!
Yours faithfully,
(Name and address supplied)
