GMOA threatens to go on island wide strike from tomorrow

The Government Medical Officers’ Association (GMOA) has threatened to go on an island wide strike tomorrow (21) hours after health services were crippled in five of the districts.

 GMOA spokesman Samantha Ananda told a news conference the strike has been called following a dispute over post internship appointments.

But a cross section of patients who were already affected by strike which is in progress in the Ratnapura, Nuwara Eliya, Polonnaruwa, Mannar and Trincomalee districts until tomorrow strongly criticised the GMOA calling the strike as unreasonable.

“When the people are going through crisis after crisis it was most unreasonable for the GMOA to call for a strike”, Vasantha Delpitiya who called over at the Ratnapura hospital and was turned away said.

However, the GMOA said that they were protesting about the manner the Health Ministry was handling post internship appointments as the ministry has made the final list when some issues were still under discussion.

But, Dr G. Wijesuriya representing the Health Ministry said that the GMOA representative had signed the transfer list, and was now crying foul.

But, the GOMA said that the Secretary to the Ministry and a senior official were directly responsible for preparing the list.

Meanwhile, hundreds of patients who turned up at the hospitals in the five districts where the strike is in progress were turned away without treatment, and most got to know that the doctors had gone on strike only when they called over at the hospital.