A senior medical practitioner on the island has likened those in control and regulating the island’s medical profession as operating like a mafia group.
He accused some members of the Grenada Medical Council of seeking to protect their own interest and not that of the country.
He cited the case of a Grenadian medical doctor who was practicing in St Lucia at a well-established facility but was denied the right to practice in her own homeland.
According to the medical practitioner the female doctor came back home when she finished her training but the council “did not accept her – they rejected her.”
“There is a lot of jealousy going on – bad-mindedness,” he said.
The experienced medical doctor charged that some of these people serving on GMC do not make decisions in the interest of the country but “what is best for them.”
“And if they think somebody is going to eat piece of their pie, they are doing everything in their power to keep them out, to frustrate them or whatever,” he said.
“It’s ridiculous and it’s time that these things are exposed – let them (government) take some kind of action,” he added.
The doctor also questioned the integrity of some of the people serving on the Medical Council in Grenada.
He alleged that there is a Cuban E&T doctor who defected from the Cuban Mission sent to work at the General Hospital but is now working at a private medical facility operated by a senior member of the council.
“This should never be allowed,” he said, adding, “You don’t encourage people to leave (the government service) in this kind of way and then you go and employ them.”
He dropped hints that the Ministry of Labour might be aiding and abetting this kind of questionable practice at the GMC level.
He said that in order for a medical expert to be employed in Grenada then the business facility must apply for a work permit for the individual.
He charged that it is these persons who sit and control the council and that “this should never be allowed” as it borders on what he termed “real conflict of interest.”
“If they come in the proper way is one thing but they are basically cheating the system and you are encouraging it,” he said.
According to the experienced medical practitioner, some doctors are refusing to pay their annual fees to the council to practice in Grenada because of the number of wrong things that are allowed to take place including questionable acts by some council members themselves.
He pointed an accusing finger at another council member who is allowing a Cuban medical person who is not supposed to be in practice “to come and do things in her office.”
“We are shooting ourselves in the foot and when things get out of hand you are going to want to try and pull it back when you allowed it to get out of hand,” he said.