Two weeks after pathologist Dr Valery Alexandrov walked off the job in frustration at the Forensic Science Centre (FSC), St James, saying he was overworked, three temporary employees have been hired to assist him and other pathologists.
The three, all women, are said to be two on-the-job trainees and one intern.
The trio was hired following Alexandrov’s two-day standoff.
Following his protest action, the Minister of National Security, Edmund Dillon, under whose purview the FSC falls, said the Government was in the process of recruiting more staff.
He admitted that the field of forensic science was not an attractive one but scholarships would be provided and in the short-term there were plans to extend existing contracts and hire new skilled labour.
Alexandrov protested on August 2 after working for five weeks straight since the other pathologist on staff, Dr Eslyn Mc Donald-Burris, was on two weeks vacation.
She resumed work yesterday and Alexandrov, who worked six weeks straight in her absence, will pick back up his scalpel next week. A house officer, Dr Janet Charles, has also been re-assigned to work at the Forensic Science Centre to assist in autopsies, sources said.
The T&T Guardian was also informed that an additional pathologist was to be employed at the FSC since Dr Hughvon des Vignes expressed his desire not to return unless certain requirements were met to fulfill a new contract.
Attempts to get a response from officials at the FSC and the Ministry of National Security has been futile.
Alexandrov complained that he was understaffed based on international standards which required one mortuary assistant for every 100 cases and so far there had been 1,200 cases done at the FSC for the year. To date there are five attendants with three of them being women.
“This is a tough job lifting dead bodies and what not. There is a need for a legal mortuary attendant to handle all the legal documents, instead what we have is a radiologist and on-the-job trainees,” Alexandrov said then.
The pathologist has been working in T&T and by extension the Caribbean for the last seven years.