Turmoil at the Sri Lanka Medical Council

By Prof. Wilfred Perera

As I have been very much involved with private medical education in this country, I decided to contact my good friend Prof. Sir Sabarathnam Arulkumaran, during the SAITM issue, regarding the functioning of the General Medical Council in UK. Sir Sabarathnam Arulkumaran is the past president of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists of UK, past president of the British Medical Association, and past president of World Federation of OBGYN. 

He sent me all the documents by email, and I forwarded copies of it by email, to then- SLMC President Prof. Carlo Fonseka, but he did not take any action. However, when Prof. Colvin Gunerathne was appointed as President last year, I submitted them to him. Unfortunately, he was unable to carry out any changes, and he resigned in disgust a few months ago. 

The Sri Lanka Medical Council was established by the then-British Government, on the lines of our parent body, the General Medical Council of UK, in 1926, almost 92 years ago. But this archaic, antiquated institution has not progressed like the GMC of UK. 

The General Medical Council of UK is a legal body, which has been established by the highest courts in UK, the Privy Council, to which it is answerable. The GMC of UK consists of 24 council members, 12 of whom are from the medical profession, and the other 12 are lay people. 

The appointments are made by the Professional Standards Authority (PSA), which has been appointed by the Privy Council to call for applications to various posts as and when they arise. The applications for the posts, and the interviewing of the candidates, are carried out by the PSA, and these appointments are sent to the Privy Council for confirmation. The Chairman of the Council is determined by the Privy Council from among the Council Members, and the Health Department is informed of the appointments by the Privy Council. 

However, what the parent body has been doing over the years is not what is done in the SLMC, as all members appointed to the Council are all medical men, who are members of the SLMC. Applications are called, and the appointments are made, by voting of the general membership of doctors. There are eight Deans of the eight medical faculties of the country, and the rest are all medical men from the SLMC membership. 

It is obvious to anyone that we are not following the parent body. The SLMC, being a legal body, should be appointed by the highest courts of the country, the Supreme Court. It is the Public Service Commission (PSC) that should be appointed, like the PSA of UK, to call for applications for the posts in the Council as and when they arise, and have the necessary interviews and inform the Privy Council once the candidates are selected by interviews. 

I wish to reiterate that Sri Lanka Medical Council is a legal body, appointed for the sole welfare of the public in this country, and not for the welfare of doctors. 

I hope that this same procedure is adopted in Sri Lanka in the future, as it is fool-proof and transparent. 

(The writer is Past President of the Sri Lanka Medical Association and Past President of the Sri Lanka College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists.)