The Government Medical Officers’ Association (GMOA) has stated that there is serious political pressure on the administrative process of the Ministry of Health. Issuing a statement on this, the Secretary of the association, Dr. Prabath Sugathadasa, says that if the Minister of Health does not take immediate action to rectify this situation, they are ready to take strict professional action.
The full press release is as follows.
Press Release
The crisis situation that has arisen due to unnecessary external pressure on the transfer process of doctors in this country.
The Sri Lankan medical service is an island-wide service. In order to continue to provide high-quality and equitable health services throughout the country, it is imperative that doctors are stationed in all hospitals and areas across the country.
For this reason, it is essential to carry out the transfer process of doctors in all categories of specialists, administrative grade doctors and grade doctors in a more efficient, systematic and transparent manner.
The transfer process of doctors is regulated by the Establishments Code, the procedural rules of the Public Service Commission and the circulars issued by the Ministry of Health. The Medical Transfer Boards, which operate on the provisions of the Establishments Code, also play a central role in ensuring that the transfer process is conducted in a more transparent and transparent manner without political or any external influence.
However, recently, it has been observed that there is an adverse trend of undue influence and interference in the medical transfer process through various parties in an illegal manner.
The publication of the 2025 annual transfer list of grade doctors has been delayed for several months due to the efforts of some officials of the Ministry of Health to operate in violation of the existing legal procedure. The number of doctors who have been unfairly affected by this is over 5000.
When making temporary assignments of doctors, they should be made subject to the approval of the Transfer Board, which has ensured the fairness, transparency and accuracy of the process.
The Ministry of Health has taken steps to remove the Medical Transfer Board from the temporary assignment process in an illegal and arbitrary manner, and serious doubts have arisen as to whether its aim is to violate the transparency and fairness of the transfer process and give priority to political interests.
Meanwhile, recent events have shown that the transfer process of specialist doctors is also undergoing unprecedented and unnecessary interference.
The most recent and questionable incident in this regard is the granting of an additional appointment to the Castle Street Women’s Hospital to the new Chairman of the Sri Jayewardenepura General Hospital, in serious violation of all accepted procedures and legal provisions.
It is a question of who is behind the decision to grant such an appointment completely outside the scope of the Specialist Doctors Transfer Board and to refer it illegally to the Public Service Commission for approval. In a context where the Government Medical Officers Association and the Specialist Doctors Association have also expressed strong displeasure and protest regarding this appointment, the fact that the Ministry of Health has not taken any steps to rectify it so far indicates that an environment of violating legal procedures and fulfilling political agendas is once again being created within the Ministry of Health.
What is even more serious is that a “new tradition” is being created in the Health Minister’s office, under the letterhead of the Health Minister’s office, of issuing orders to change the placements of selected specialist doctors.
These new “traditions” that violate existing legal provisions and standard procedures clearly constitute serious political influence on the transfer process of doctors, and if the Minister of Health does not take immediate steps to rectify this situation, the Government Medical Officers’ Association will not hesitate to take even strict professional action in the future.
A number of administrative positions in the Ministry of Health and the hospital system have become vacant, and a number of problems have also arisen in the medical administrative ranks as duties are being covered by acting administrators. Among them, the fact that 7 Deputy Director General posts in the Ministry of Health are vacant is also a serious situation.
Suitable senior medical administrators are selected for the posts of Deputy Director General in accordance with a standard recruitment procedure that includes an interview. However, the appointment of officers who are not experienced enough to hold the post of Deputy Director General to these positions on an acting basis is causing a number of problems in the decision-making and implementation process of the Ministry of Health. The perception within the health sector is that political affiliations and agendas are behind these appointments.
In the context of political affiliations and agendas being given priority within the Ministry of Health and the health sector, the background is being prepared to take the health system back to a crisis, damaging the optimistic environment that has been built in the past. Through this, the lives of innocent sick people are being put at risk.
We have seen in history health ministers who have made decisions in accordance with the whims and narrow agendas of the political establishment and even influenced medical transfers, and today, we feel that all politicians in this country should read the message given by them being rejected by the people and even accused before the law.
A key factor in the huge mandate received by the current President and the government was to change the failed political culture of making decisions and acting on political and personal agendas and to create a change in the way the state is governed on the basis of policies. The Ministry of Health cannot escape this responsibility either.
In order to get rid of the crisis faced in the past and take the free health service in this country towards a renaissance, it is imperative to put aside narrow political agendas and interventions and work with a broader vision and by bringing all parties together based on policies.
It is an inalienable responsibility of the Honorable President, the Minister of Health and other responsible persons to protect the right to life of the people of this country.
Thank you.
Yours faithfully,
Dr. Prabath Sugathadasa,
Secretary.