The Government Medical Officers’ Association (GMOA) says industrial action carried out by the union had no connection to the death of an infant during a delivery at Trincomalee District General Hospital.
Speaking at a media briefing on Monday (11), GMOA Vice President Chandika Epitakaduwa said emergency maternity care services are never suspended during trade union action.
“Maternity ward treatment is considered emergency care, and doctors do not withdraw from emergency services during trade union action,” he said.
He also claimed there appeared to be attempts to deliberately blame the GMOA over the incident.
Epitakaduwa said the union learned through media reports that two doctors involved in the case had been suspended, although no official written notification had yet been received.
He further stated that although allegations had been made regarding dereliction of duty, the doctors had reportedly been engaged in private practice outside their official duty hours.
The Health Ministry recently suspended a consultant obstetrician and a senior house officer attached to the hospital following a preliminary inquiry into the infant death reported on April 09.
The suspension was based on allegations including neglect of official duties and engaging in private medical practice during working hours.
According to the allegations, the two doctors failed to respond despite repeated calls from a resident doctor requesting their presence at the labour ward during complications that arose during the delivery.
The doctors were also accused of participating in a Caesarean surgery at a private hospital at the time of the incident.
The Health Ministry’s preliminary investigation reportedly found that the doctors had been working in the private sector during official duty hours and had made false entries in the hospital duty log claiming they were on duty at the hospital.
Authorities said a formal disciplinary inquiry into the incident is expected to be conducted by the Health Ministry. (NewsWire)
2026-05-11