MEDICAL technologists were last night locked in a meeting with officials from the health and finance ministries, as officials tried to get the health workers back on the job.

However, St Patrice Ennis, general secretary of the Union of Technical, Administrative and Supervisory Personnel (UTASP), told the Observer that the medical technologists were prepared to stay off the job for the third consecutive day today if the meeting was not fruitful.

The medical technologists went on strike Wednesday after the government failed to respond to a seven-day ultimatum to effect a reclassification ordered by the Industrial Disputes Tribunal (IDT) four years ago.

The strike has, in the meantime, started to affect the services provided at public hospitals.

Yesterday, Donald Farquharson, CEO of the Kingston Public Hospital, said the institution was forced to solicit the services of a private lab to offset a backlog.

“We haven’t really been impacted by the strike and the National Public Health Laboratory has ensured that emergency cases are dealt with,” Farquharson told the Observer.

Everton Anderson, CEO of the Cornwall Regional Hospital in Montego Bay, said his hospital had also done some outsourcing at private labs. However, Anderson said the hospital was adversely affected by the strike as only emergency cases were outsourced.