Some doctors serving under WP Director of Health Services not paid in months

By Rathindra Kuruwita

Some doctors attached to the Office of the Provincial Director of Health Services of the Western Province had not been paid in months, the Government Medical Officers Association (GMOA) said yesterday.

General Secretary of the GMOA Dr. Senal Fernando said that some doctors serving in the Province had not been paid for nine months.

“When we took up the issue, the Governor and the Chief Secretary said that the number of medical officers in the province had exceeded the quota and that it was impossible to pay the extra doctors,” Dr. Fernando said.

The General Secretary of the GMOA said that those doctors had been appointed by the Public Service Commission to fill vacancies identified by the Health Ministry.

“The Ministry of Health agreed to deposit the money to pay the doctors after the Provincial Council paid them. But this has not worked out because of some senior officers at the council.”

If the Provincial Council didn’t address this issue the GMOA would not help allocate doctors to the Council in the future, Dr. Fernando said.

“This is a good example of how the Provincial Council system had adversely affected our healthcare system,” Dr. Fernando said.