Dear Prime Minister,
It is with great relief that a huge number of us has welcomed your arrival to the position of leader of this promising country of ours. We had thought that finally things would take a turn for the better, with sycophancy, nepotism, favouritism and a maximum of scourges that plague our healthcare system, more precisely the day to day running of our hospitals, a thing of the past. However, it is sadly noted that faces have changed, but the attitudes remain, three months in.
To begin with, we have had colleagues who had helped set up important departments in hospital, running them smoothly, be tagged by overzealous “well-wishers” of your party as supporters of the previous regime, despite having no political affiliations whatsoever, and suffer the consequences, such as non-renewal of contracts and a perpetual sword of Damocles of being laid off. These so-called well-wishers seem to be set on a witch hunt, not only in hospitals but in the ministry as well, to readily tag as “dissidents” of the current government based arbitrarily on their liking of the person. So much so that many of our competent colleagues prefer to consider resignation from the public sector rather than continue being insidiously persecuted. We do not need to stress the consequences that a string of resignations in public hospitals will bring.
Unfortunately, we do not only face duress from within but also from external individuals. During the past ten years, we had had to endure the pressure of insistent prominent political figures to give priority to “their people” who come to seek treatment in hospitals to the detriment of more needy patients who follow proper hospital protocol. This had led to numerous cases where we have had to comply out of fear for our reputations and positions. We have had to bear the anger of the public, without being able to do anything about it.
We had hoped that the largely touted “changement” on which your campaign was based would have put a stop to that. But sadly, no. The same situation perdures. In the middle of our already full schedule, we not only have to listen to Mr(s) So and So demanding that we deal with their people first with the unsaid “or else”, but to deal with an escalation of things. The people for whom politicians advocate, are now shamelessly coming directly to us and claiming “to pou kone ki mwa” if we do not attend to them. This state of affairs cannot continue. We are now backed by our unions, who have also called out for this type of behaviour to be nipped in the bud.
It is still early on in your mandate. We urge you to call on the appropriate people in the different ministries concerned and have a good talk with them, so that your mandate does not end up being tarred with the brush of “du pareil au même”. Thanks to the legacy left behind by your predecessors, some of our colleagues, namely gynaecologists, paediatricians and anaesthetists have to spend the night in hospital when they are on call, something unheard, as you will appreciate in your capacity as a doctor, in any self-respecting country praising itself for free healthcare. Not to mention the fact that every month one gynaecologist has to spend 30 days, covering the whole of Rodrigues 24/7, leaving behind family, rightly earned private practice and local commitments.
We urge you to do something about these issues, for otherwise, we will have no choice but to leave public service for our own sanity, because our initial intention of public service is marred by the incompetence of technocrats and decision makers, as well as sycophants. Let your mandate be one where professionals of the diaspora want to come back and serve their country, and for that you need to create the right conditions, starting with a hard stop to bootlickers and the wanna-be powerful.
Respectfully yours.
SPECIALIST
Cc: The Minister of Health and Wellness
