SLMC guilty of not taking action against errant doctors: Rajitha

Launching a passionate appeal for the rights of patients, Health Minister and Cabinet Co-spokesperson Dr. Rajitha Senaratne yesterday said that the Sri Lanka Medical Council has been safeguarding errant doctors at the expense of the interests of patients. 

Senaratne agreed with the criticism levelled against the SLMC by Prof. Colvin Gunaratne, who said:

“Who is the doctor whose registration has been cancelled following an inquiry based on the complaints received? There was only one incident where we were able to take action against a doctor who was accused of sexual harassment in his practice. The Government Medical Officers’ Union tried stopping this action, also. We were able to take action as there was a previous incident reported and the media was on the case.” 

“Is there any complaint that goes through a proper inquiry against any medical malpractice? It doesn’t happen anymore,” he claimed. 

Claiming that two doctors who are currently facing disciplinary inquiries are members of the SLMC, which was appointed to hold inquiries against malpractices of medical professionals in the country, the Minister said the SLMC now does not work towards safeguarding the interests of the patients.  “The Medical Council is there, not to take care of the interests of the doctors, but to safeguard the interests of the patients. But, what happened in the recent past? The Government Medical Officers Association has infiltrated the SLMC. The two members who have accusations came through the GMOA,” he claimed. 

The Minister claimed that the Act needs urgent reforms to ensure the institution takes action against errant doctors. He said the Council should follow the British Model, which has representatives from non-medical professionals as well as doctors.  Speaking against the current setup where members of the SLMC are appointed through an election process, leading to manipulations by trade unions, Senaratne said that a new mechanism to appoint the members is required.  

The Minister also highlighted that the public has lost faith in the SLMC where they no longer send complaints to the Institution. 

Both the Sri Lanka Medical Association and the Medical Specialists Association have agreed that the act should change, the Minister said.