GMOA to protest against irregular transfers

Says irregular transfers are result of bad political leadership

By Chamindra Wickremasinghe
The Government Medical Officers’ Association (GMOA) will protest against 12 irregular transfers by launching a token strike next week.

“We recently discovered that the Health Ministry had violated procedures when transferring 12 specialist medical officers during the last two years,
without giving them prior notice. This appears to be a politically motivated decision and we are going to protest against this irregular practice until the decision is reversed,” GMOA Secretary Dr. A. B. Padeniya told The Bottom Line.

Highlighting some of the irregular transfers, Padeniya said that one specialist who should be working at the Karapitiya Hospital is currently forced to work at the Nuwara-Eliya Hospital, and another specialist medical officer who should be on duty at the Kalubowila Teaching Hospital , had been transferred to the Negombo Hospital.

According to the GMOA Secretary, this is the first time such irregular transfers have taken place and he blamed them on the lack of correct political leadership.

Commenting on the prevailing shortage of doctors in Jaffna, he attributed it to a ‘bad’ political decision taken by the Ministry. “At one point the Ministry took the foolish decision of withdrawing all the interns out of Jaffna hospital, disregarding our protests. The very people who took such a wrong decision are now telling us there is a shortage of doctors in the Jaffna Hospital which has led to a crisis situation there,” he said.