MONTEGO BAY, St James — Miss Jones had been looking forward to her teenage daughter — admitted at Cornwall Regional Hospital (CRH) after a motor vehicle crash about two weeks ago — being home this weekend. Now they both have to wait.

“My daughter was supposed to get a cast on her hand but that never get to happen because some scans that were to be reviewed on Monday didn’t get done,” lamented the distraught mother, who opted not to provide her first name or that of her 19-year-old offspring.

Her daughter had been scheduled for treatment at the orthopaedic clinic on Monday but was told doctors were only doing emergency procedures.

“Also, she is supposed to start some work on her breathing and sitting up but that, too, was delayed because doctors were not readily available,” Jones added.

Her daughter was among individuals across Jamaica who were unable to access medical care after an almost full day of industrial action by disgruntled junior doctors. The health professionals were slated to return to work at 6:00 pm Monday but procedures that did not get done earlier in the day will have to be rescheduled.

“I’m not certain when she will get those things done and this means that she will still be in the hospital for longer than anticipated,” said a dejected Jones.

At Western Jamaica Conference Centre, which houses several clinics as work continues on CRH, some patients were lucky enough to be treated by an orthopaedist on Monday.

“There was a doctor in place, one doctor, and he saw some of us,” one man, who opted not to provide his name, told the Jamaica Observer.

In nearby Falmouth, there were reports that the gynaecology clinic was cancelled because of the sickout.

Clinical coordinator for Western Regional Health Authority (WRHA) Dr Delroy Fray painted a picture of a health system severely hobbled by industrial action before word came that the doctors had agreed to go back to work.

“The number of junior doctors in the region is 315 and they are on a sickout. This is for the region: Savanna-la-Mar, Noel Holmes, Falmouth, and Cornwall Regional [hospitals],” he told the Observer.

According to a release issued by the Ministry of Health and Wellness, during the strike there “was a 16 per cent doctor turnout in the Western Regional Health Authority”.

Dr Fray explained how they coped.

“We have about 50 consultants in the system and they are providing emergency care for our patients. We’ve had to curtail our clinic activities, our operating activities and our elective admission activities,” he explained.

He said, however, that patients genuinely in need of care from accident and emergency units would be treated if they made their way to the hospitals in the WRHA. He noted, however, that CRH in Montego Bay had been particularly impacted by the junior doctors’ sickout.

“It has thrown everything out of whack but we have to prepare care for our patients so we have to make contingencies,” Dr Fray said.

“It’s a hospital, we have to keep it open,” he added.