GMOA move to check exodus of doctors

by Carol Aloysius

The Government Medical Officers’ Association (GMOA) has reiterated its call to implement the new Terms of Reference of the 2013 Salaries Commission appointed by President Mahinda Rajapaksa on salary structures in government, semi government and private sector institutions.

This is a sequel to the rising exodus of qualified medical professionals. The Terms of Reference (TOR) is very clear and states that the discrimination of salary structures of all professionals in the government, semi government and private sector be eliminated.

The Salaries Commission recently called for suggestions of professionals on this issue. This is encouraging as many of our newly passed out medical personnel are leaving the country even before taking up their first appointment due to the poor pay they now receive, GMOA spokesman Dr Navin De Soysa told the Sunday Observer.

He said that compared to doctors working in the private sector who earned as much as Rs. 5 lakhs or more a month if they worked on a full-time basis, a medical officer in the state sector earned only Rs 26,000 while consultants in the state sector earned Rs 42,000. They can never match the salaries of their counterparts in private hospitals” even if they engage in private practice part-time”. This was due to the salary ratio being still limited to 1: 4 from 2003, whereas it was significantly higher in the private sector.

Of the 1,000 new medical graduates passing out every year, at least 100 found jobs with better pay in other countries, even before their internship.

“The Commission recently invited suggestions and proposals from all professionals prior to implementing the new TOR, giving March 31 as the deadline. We appreciate this step. It shows that a genuine effort is being made to keep our professionals in the country. If more government doctors are available, the public need not go to private hospitals paying big consultation fees”, he said.

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