Jamaica moves on intern crisis as doctors strike over gruelling hospital shifts

Jamaica’s health leadership has been told to move immediately on complaints about medical interns’ working and living conditions, after the Jamaica Medical Doctors Association (JMDA) raised alarm over a deepening shortage across public hospitals.

The association is supporting industrial action by interns who cite crushing workloads and poor conditions. President Dr. Rene Badro said some are rostered for 24 to 32 consecutive hours on alternate days, with reports of up to 56 straight hours at certain sites, including Spanish Town Hospital, Mandeville Regional Hospital, May Pen Hospital and the University Hospital of the West Indies. He warned that fatigue threatens clinical training and patient care, and noted recent road incidents linked to exhaustion among interns in the current batch.

Health and Wellness Minister Dr. Christopher Tufton has directed regional health authorities and UHWI to conduct 72-hour inspections of intern accommodation, complete urgent repairs where needed, review duty rosters, and assess staffing gaps within five working days. Additional mental health support is to be provided. The ministry says 232 interns are expected in post by 1 July, with more placements after upcoming exam results, and a revised internship framework is headed to Cabinet.

In St. James, three high school students are in custody after a cyberbullying case in Montego Bay. Separately, police are investigating a shooting in Salt Spring involving a man said to be mentally ill who was armed with a knife; INDECOM has opened a probe. Water Minister Matthew Samuda rejected opposition claims that water projects are driven by politics, defending the multi-billion-dollar western resilience programme, while Opposition spokesman Ian Hails questioned spending to pipe water into Westmoreland.

Dr. Marine Mullings Nelson won the Jamaica Teachers’ Association president-elect race with 6,967 votes to Dr. Darian Henry’s 3,947 in balloting held 15–19 June. In Parliament, East Portland MP Isat Buchanan pressed for scrutiny of Jamaica’s third-country national deportation arrangement with the United States, citing the recent arrival of 16 Haitian nationals at Port Antonio.

Regionally, a magnitude 7.1 earthquake struck northern Venezuela near Caracas on Wednesday, damaging buildings, disrupting power and communications, and prompting tsunami alerts across parts of the Caribbean.