Revised Medical Ordinance soon | Page 2 | Sunday Observer

Revised Medical Ordinance soon

24 March, 2019

The revised Medical Ordinance will be presented to the Cabinet in two weeks to improve the Sri Lanka Medical Council (SLMC), Minister of Health Dr. Rajitha Senaratne told the Sunday Observer yesterday.

The committee appointed by Minister Senaratne, handed over its report to amend Sri Lanka’s Medical Ordinance to the Minister a few months ago. The six-member committee which comprised Chairperson Prof. Nilanthi De Silva, Prof. Harendra De Silva, Director General of Health Dr. Anil Jasinghe, former Attorney General Palitha Fernando, Dr. Palitha Abeykoon and Dr. Chandana Atapattu had met several times to discuss the matter.

“I have instructed the Secretary to the Ministry of Health to make amendments to the Ordinance. I will receive the revised Ordinance in a week and after a thorough study, will present it to the Cabinet,” the Minister said.

Following the stepping down of former SLMC President, Prof. Colvin Gunaratne, Minister Senaratne appointed a committee to revise the Sri Lanka Medical Ordinance whereby the SLMC has been reformed for the betterment of the public. “Bringing amendments to the Medical Ordinance is a must. There are certain public complaints about doctors, which are delayed due to the inefficiency in the SLMC mechanism,” a senior official of the Ministry of Health told the Sunday Observer.

The official said, “Some cases are over five years. This is a serious lapse which needs to be addressed. Issues with regard to Medical Officer registration and Foreign Medical education must also be covered by a new Ordinance”.

Former President of the SLMC Prof. Gunaratne in his five-page resignation letter to the Health Minister in July last year had quoted all issues of the SLMC and highlighted the problem of the majority of the SLMC members with medical practitioners which led to biased decision-making.

President of the Government Medical Officers’ Forum (GMOF), Dr. Rukshan Bellana said yesterday that no active trade unionist should be appointed as SLMC office-bearers. “By permitting executive members of the GMOA to enrol themselves in the SLMC it created chaos. This is a dangerous situation. We could already see the repercussions and this has turned the SLMC into a trade union,” said Dr. Bellana.

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