Sunday Times 2
Sri Lanka Medical Council turmoil: A solution in the British model
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 Britain. Sir Sabarathnam Arulkumaran is the past president of Britain’s Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, past president of the British Medical Association and past president of the World Federation of OBGYN.
He sent me the documents by email and I forwarded copies of them by email to the then SLMC president, Prof. Carlo Fonseka, but he did not take any action. However, when Prof. Colvin Gunaratne was appointed as president last year, I submitted the copies 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 the United Kingdom in 1926, almost 92 years ago. But this archaic, antiquated institution has not progressed like its British counterpart. The General Medical Council is a legal body established by the Privy Council, the highest judicial authority, to which it is answerable. The GMC consists of 24 council members, 12 of whom are from the medical profession and the others are lay people.
The appointments are made by the Professional Standards Authority (PSA) which is appointed by the Privy Council. The applications for the posts and the interviewing of the candidates are done 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 amongst 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. All members appointed to the SLMC are medical men. 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 court of the country, the Supreme Court. It is the Public Service Commission (PSC) like the PSA of UK that should call for applications for the posts in the Council as and when they arise and have the necessary interviews and inform the Supreme Court once the candidates are selected by interviews.
I hope that this same procedure is adopted in Sri Lanka in the future, as it is fool-proof and transparent. Prof. Wilfred Perera
Past president of the Sri Lanka Medical Association and past president of the Sri Lanka College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists