• Council members request audit
• SLMC Chair denies allegations

Several members of the Sri Lanka Medical Council (SLMC) have called for an internal audit to be carried out regarding expenditure on legal proceedings, The Daily Morning learns.

Sources close to the matter told The Daily Morning that, concerns have been raised regarding the manner in which the SLMC handles complaints and grievances of medical students, particularly those graduated from foreign universities. The concerns were raised by some members of the Council, with questions being asked about why the SLMC reported lack of enthusiasm to discuss and negotiate such complaints. It is learnt that allegations have also been made against senior officials of the SLMC on why they are keen to enter into litigation even regarding problems that can be resolved through discussions, and the way it dispenses funds to pay for litigation.

The SLMC is a statutory body established for the purpose of protecting health care seekers by ensuring the maintenance of academic and professional standards, discipline and ethical practice by health professionals who are registered with it. It derives its statutory powers from Chapter 105 of the Medical Ordinance of 1924 and its subsequent amendments and the regulations gazette under the Ordinance.

The Dean of the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Colombo as well as the Registrar of the Ceylon Medical College Council (CMCC), Prof. Vajira H.W. Dissanayake is currently serving as SLMC President.

A senior official within the SLMC speaking to The Daily Morning on terms of anonymity claimed that as a result of certain decisions taken by SLMC's President and Legal Officer (LO), a significant number of students, especially students who obtained medical degrees from foreign universities, are entering into legal proceedings such as filing fundamental rights (FR) petitions before the Supreme Court (SC), in relation to their dealings with the SLMC. It is learnt that some of the Council members have identified this trend and questioned the way in which the SLMC deals with such issues, and has highlighted the high cost of such litigation.

When considering the problems most of the students who have entered into such legal proceedings face, the senior official stated that the SLMC could have resolved the disputes and avoided such legal action, which cost the SLMC a great deal, through negotiations with the relevant parties. The official also alleged that despite the ample possibility of resolving the problems of these students through discussion, the SLMC's LO, with the knowledge of its President, continues to act in such a way that the students are left with no other option, but to enter into legal proceedings.

The official further claimed that the SLMC, which spends millions to face the legal proceedings, loses court battles more than 90% of the time.

According to sources, the SLMC often hires a legal team headed by a President's Counsel (PC) to represent the cases filed by the students and its LO is also involved in the proceedings. Most of the money spent on litigation has been paid to the legal team led by the PC and another significant amount has been paid to the LO.

According to the case-wise legal payments made by the SLMC between 01 January 2018 and 31 December 2022, the SLMC has spent money on more than 60 legal proceedings including FR petitions before SC and writ petitions before the Court of Appeal (CoA). The document reveals that the legal team headed by a PC has been paid sums of money amounting to about Rs. 36 million. In addition, the SLMC's LO has been paid approximately Rs. 6 million for the said proceedings. In total, the amount spent by the SLMC on litigation during the aforementioned period is approximately Rs. 43 million.

A letter dated 20 September 2022, sent by Attorney General (AG) Sanjay Rajaratnam PC to University Grants Commission (UGC) Chairman Prof. Sampath Amaratunga, with regard to a few FR applications (160/2022, 161/2022, 163/2022, 166/2022, 167/2022, and 07/2022) was seen by The Daily Morning. It reads that when the said applications were taken up before the SC on 08 September 2022, the attorneys for the petitioners had informed the Supreme Court that the Deans of the Medical Faculties of all Universities had indicated, in principle, their willingness to accommodate the petitioners under the existing programme available for international students who wish to engage in hospital-based clinical work in professional units at a state hospital in Sri Lanka.

The sources said that had the SLMC negotiated with students, resolved and facilitated them to undergo the relevant training at a state hospital, an approximate sum of Rs. 28 million that was spent on the said few cases could have been saved, and added that most of the legal proceedings have incurred such unnecessary expenditure for the SLMC.

"Students and their parents too have to incur a lot of costs due to the fact that they have to resort to legal proceedings as the SLMC does not provide solutions to the issues that can be solved in the first place. In addition, the time they (students) have to receive relevant training or to study is wasted. This is a great injustice to students," sources claimed.

The sources went on to charge that due to many irregularities which are taking place regarding expenditure for legal proceedings by SLMC, some of the SLMC's Council members (the Council has representation from medical faculties of the state universities as well as from professionals in the state and private sectors elected by medical and dental professionals and appointed by the Health Minister) have called for an internal audit to be carried out as soon as possible. The source also claimed that there is a preparation to remove the Council members who are demanding that an internal audit be held, in order to avoid having to conduct such.

When contacted by The Daily Morning to inquire about the allegation, SLMC President Prof. Dissanayake said that there is no issue pertaining to the expenditure on legal proceedings. "There is nothing as such. We have done audits and everything. All these foreign graduates are going and filing cases against us (SLMC), but all those cases have now been concluded." He further said: "The information that you have received is not true. The decisions regarding foreign graduates are made by the Council based on recommendations made by the Foreign Degrees Unit and/or independent panels appointed by the Council."