Public hospitals: Health Records Clerks running out of steam

Chronic understaffing, overtime unpaid for months, temporary closures of departments... The Health Records Clerks of public hospitals are sounding the alarm. After the doctors and nurses, it is the turn of these shadowy staff members to show their fed up.

“Work in pines me no iron ale. » This confidence, collected from several Health Records Clerks working in various hospitals on the island, sums up the unease that has set in in this profession. These staff members, responsible for giving cards to patients, filing files and registering appointments, are on the front lines of a health system under strain.

The problem is firstly that of the numbers. At the country's busiest hospitals, Dr A. G. Jeetoo and Victoria, the department is operating with almost 50% fewer staff. “Out of 115 staff members that we are supposed to have, we are only at 65,” says a supervisor. Direct consequence: those in office do the work of two people, or even three. Fatigue, frustration, demotivation, discouragement, burn-out and absenteeism now punctuate their daily lives.

In some hospitals in which staff members are not directly attached to doctors, the situation is even more critical. This is the pure and simple temporary closure of certain departments, with employees being mobilized for other functions. Among the departments most affected is the appointment counter for patients without a dedicated doctor. “After treatment, some patients must have an appointment for their follow-up. It is during the evening service that the appointments are then classified,” we explain. The patients concerned are therefore forced to return to the hospital the next day to collect their card and find out the date of their next appointment. “We are working with a reduced workforce and we have no other choice. »

If understaffing is a structural reality, it is the issue of unpaid overtime which ended up breaking the last source of staff motivation. “Our system works with 'overtime' by 50% staff,” explains an employee. These overtime hours, which previously allowed agents to “do more work at work” while increasing their income, no longer arouse the same enthusiasm. The reason: months of delay in their payment. According to our information, arrears date back to August last year in some cases.

Questioned on the subject in the National Assembly on Tuesday, April 7, by MP Sandeep Prayag, the Minister of Health, Anil Bachoo, did not give any deadline or deadline regarding the payment of these unpaid hours. He said payments would be made “as and when savings can be identified” in the current financial year.