MAY PEN, Clarendon — After about a seven-hour wait on Monday, 67-year-old Durant Blake wondered if he would be allowed to spend the night at May Pen Hospital so he could see the doctor today. He was worried about how much it would cost to get back home, then return on Tuesday.

“I’ve been here from about nine o’clock. I haven’t seen the doctor but I’ve seen the nurse. I came here last week [and] was referred to a doctor. I explained to her that my eyes are dark. She said I should check back. When I came here now this morning, she not working,” the visibly annoyed man told the Jamaica Observer about 4:00 pm.

He had travelled from a community in Vere and was unsure whether he would get the opportunity to see a doctor by the end of the day.

“I would have to stay over because the fare is very high,” said Blake.

He was just one of the patients affected by the junior doctors’ sick out. The medical professionals agreed to go back to work at 6:00 pm Monday but for Blake and others who were there in the morning, that was of no comfort.

Caurshan Campbell and his nephew, who made the journey from Frankfield, also arrived about 9:00 am. Campbell was unsure whether his nephew would see the doctor. They suspect the boy’s arm was broken when he participated in physical education class.

“I came to the hospital from morning to see the doctor. The time when I came here they say the doctors are on strike. I don’t know what’s really going on still, but I still here waiting,” he said about two hours before doctors were expected to be back on the job.

Winston Bashford was also in limbo.

“I brought my granddaughter to the doctor and I’ve been here since 11:00 and I haven’t seen a doctor as yet. I’ve seen a nurse, not a doctor, and I don’t know when I’ll be able to see a doctor. My granddaughter is sick with the flu virus, bad,” he told the Observer.

He was willing to wait up to 5:00 or 6:00 pm to see a doctor.

Bashford empathised with the junior doctors who were a no-show.

“Maybe it’s a higher pay that they need. Maybe if they don’t do that [strike], no one will pay attention to them,” he said.

One doctor at the hospital, who asked not to be named, said the sick out has had a great effect on patient care.

“The impact has been significant ’cause there are not a lot of doctors at the hospital… Normally, there are seven, six doctors on each ward at a time. Today, I’m coming from the medical ward; the medical ward probably has two doctors, and there are two medical wards — female and male. The situation is similar on the other wards, even in accident and emergency,” he told the Observer.