Sri Lanka’s government doctors have decided to intensify an ongoing islandwide trade union action, accusing the Health Minister of failing to implement agreed solutions to safeguard the country’s free public healthcare system, the Government Medical Officers’ Association said on Saturday.
The GMOA said the decision was taken after the Health Minister failed to act on assurances given to resolve longstanding issues faced by doctors and the state hospital system, despite repeated discussions and timelines proposed by the union.
In a statement, the GMOA said it had been compelled to resort to trade union action after agreements aimed at protecting the free healthcare service were not implemented. The union noted that its financial and non-financial demands include the creation of a dedicated “Sri Lanka Medical Service” encompassing doctors of all grades, updating the Doctors’ DAT allowance, resolving anomalies related to research allowances, revising the approved cadre of doctors, and converting certain allowances into permanent payments.
The union said discussions with the Finance Ministry on these issues were expected to begin on January 5, but no meaningful progress had been made.
According to the GMOA, five continuous trade union actions were launched across the entire hospital system from January 26. These include suspending the issuance of prescriptions directing patients to purchase unavailable medicines and laboratory tests from private institutions, withdrawing voluntary participation in health camps and clinics organised by political groups, and refusing to deploy doctors to newly opened hospital wards and units that lack approved cadre positions.
Doctors have also decided not to examine patients in settings where adequate facilities and support staff are unavailable to ensure patient safety and privacy.
In a further escalation, the GMOA said specialist doctors will provide services only at their officially assigned hospitals and will no longer cover duties at institutions without designated specialists. This measure is scheduled to take effect from 8:00 a.m. on February 2.
The GMOA said its central committee, which met on January 28, had granted the Health Minister 48 hours to arrive at a constructive solution and make it public, in order to prevent inconvenience to the public. However, the union said the government’s failure to respond prompted its executive committee to authorise further escalation of the action.
The association accused the Health Minister and the government of adopting an arbitrary and dismissive approach, failing to listen to the concerns of doctors and the public, and avoiding meaningful dialogue. It also alleged attempts to discredit doctors through misinformation and public attacks, warning that such actions would not resolve the crisis.
The GMOA said it remains open to resolving the dispute through discussion but warned that responsibility for any public inconvenience resulting from the continued trade union action would rest entirely with the Health Minister and the government.
Sri Lanka’s Health Ministry has not yet publicly responded to the GMOA’s latest announcement. (Newswire)