• Calls for Health Min. unit-based mechanism for assignment to hospital postings  

The Government Medical Officers' Association (GMOA) alleged that many specialist doctors who return to Sri Lanka after overseas training migrate due to the sluggish policy followed by the relevant units of the Ministry of Health in giving appointments to them.

Speaking to The Daily Morning, GMOA Media Spokesman Dr. Chamil Wijesinghe said that medical officers' willingness to return to the country on time following the completion of relevant overseas training should be commended at a time when the country is seeing a serious shortage of medical professionals, including medical specialists.

"When they return to the country, the Ministry should work to assign them to hospitals without delay. However, in most cases, these medical specialists have to wait in the corridors at the Ministry for days to go through the relevant process. There is no efficiency at all. When they are made to wander for nothing, most of them resort to migrating again. They are welcome in any other country, and they have the ability to enjoy all the privileges there," he said.

Speaking further, Wijesinghe said that therefore, the relevant units of the Ministry should formulate a mechanism for the assignment of medical officers to hospitals to be made in an efficient manner, adding that the failure to do so would encourage specialists to leave the country. "We see the Ministry trying to retain professionals in the country by applying various unfair policies and regulations. That is not going to succeed at all. The only way out of this crisis is to solve their problems," he noted.

The allegation comes in the wake of several leading Government hospitals seeing a significant shortage of medical professionals, particularly specialists, at present. There is a trend of medical specialists leaving the country for jobs overseas, and the Ministry, as a solution to the issue, recently decided to recall retired medical professionals to the service on a contract basis.