Round-the-clock health centres are on the way, just as soon as the Health Ministry can find sufficient staff to man stations.

"I'm trying to open the centres 24 hours but people—the staff—have to buy into it," said Health Minister Dr Fuad Khan. "I have to look at paying doctors, nurses and ancillary staff properly for full-time service in public hospitals."

The minister was speaking at the second meeting of the Caribbean Public Health Agency at the Hyatt Regency in Port of Spain yesterday.

"What I'm doing is trying my best to increase time by accessing external doctors and paying them for part-time services," he said, adding that so far, the response from the private sector was good, and that some private specialists had even come back to the Port of Spain General Hospital.

If local doctors are not available, Khan said, he would bring in people from "all over the world".

"I am going to the Philippines and get some doctors and nurses and specialists; 100-plus specialists will be coming in from Cuba soon and I am just going to send them to work in the after-hour period."

He said a new system would be put in place, including removing the geographical boundaries for Regional Health Authorities (RHAs), allowing for freedom of movement, and letting private doctors and specialists from all over to come in and assist in training new doctors.

"The law makes it difficult to work to get paid in the region that they work as (private doctors) supplying goods and services as somebody in the same region. They can make overtime (at public health centres) but they cannot do the backlogs and get paid for it.

"They can't work the hours they would like to. ... I plan to make them into independent contractors after hours so we can pay them and get 24-hour service. ... I can remove boundaries and that would not require legislation change," said Khan.

Responding to a reporter's question about how the recent Chinese Military Hospital Ship Peace Ark was able to come and treat so many patients, yet there was a backlog at local hospitals, Khan said it was because the Chinese had the "will to do it".

"They worked until late into the night," he said, adding that it was up to the staff here to want to work.

As to why he felt the need to import foreign doctors, Khan said he had asked local medical associations to source local doctors, but had not received any response.

Secretary General of the Medical Practitioners Association of Trinidad and Tobago (MPATT,) Dr Shehenaz Mohammed, said the association did have a meeting with the minister to discuss the use of local doctors, but recommends a restructuring of the current staffing system to look at the redistribution of staff.

"There needs to be a manpower assessment. The last one was in 1981, and since then there has been an increase in departments and specialists in Trinidad and Tobago healthcare. The system now is in chaos, so before they bring in foreign staff, the ministry needs to assess what is available and what is needed," she said.