Health Minister, Dr. Christopher Tufton has directed regional health authorities, RHAs, and the University Hospital of the West Indies, UHWI, to undertake a comprehensive physical audit of the accommodation facilities for medical interns.
The audit is to be completed within 72 hours.
The minister issued the directive in a statement on Wednesday.
Mahiri Stewart reports.
Dr. Christopher Tufton says RHAs and the UHWI are to take immediate action to address the working and living conditions of medical interns across the public health system.
The findings are to be submitted to the Permanent Secretary’s office no later than Friday, June 26.
Dr. Tufton says any facility found to have structural, sanitary, or safety deficiencies, including sewage-related issues or inadequate sleeping arrangements, must undergo immediate interim corrective action.
The minister’s directive followed concerns raised by the Jamaica Medical Doctors’ Association, JMDA, which called on members to wear blue on Wednesday in solidarity with the interns.
In addition to the audit of the physical space, Senior Medical Officers have been instructed to review duty rosters to ensure that interns, residents and senior housing officers are appropriately scheduled to avert the potential for overwork.
Human resource directors across all RHAs are also required to submit, within five working days, a detailed assessment of intern staffing gaps by department and facility.
The Health Minister says the assessment will inform accelerated deployment under the 2026 Medical Internship Programme.
On top of that, coordinators of the Employee Assistance Programme have been directed to engage interns proactively and provide access to mental health and wellness support services.
Dr Tufton notes that as of July 1, a total of 232 medical interns are expected to be deployed across the public health system.
He says additional placements are anticipated following the completion of the June 2026 qualifying examinations.
According to the minister, his staff has been reviewing internship post allocations in consultation with the Medical Council of Jamaica and the RHAs to ensure that training sites are quipped with the requisite supervision, clinical workload, and physical infrastructure to support quality experiences.
Tufton says a revised internship post-allocation framework is to be presented to Cabinet in the coming weeks.
Also among the proposed changes, Dr Tufton says the Director of Health Services Planning and Integration has been tasked with working alongside the regional teams to incorporate facility readiness as a key criterion in future internship placements.
Dr. Tufton says the plan is for a joint monitoring committee to track the progress on a fortnightly basis.
