By Olindhi Jayasundere
The Malabe Private Medical College responding to the Government Medical Officers Association (GMOA) threatening to take legal action against the institution, said yesterday the GMOA could not do so as the medical college had fulfilled all legal requirements necessary to obtain degree awarding status.
South Asian Institute of Technology and Medicine (SAITM) Chairman Neville Fernando said the institution had undergone proper legal and investigative procedures conducted by independent commissions prior to being approved by the University Grants Commission (UGC).
He said soon after the completion of the construction of the new 1002-bed high-tech private hospital, it would be used for clinical training by SAITM’s medical students.
“Before the gazette was published giving us degree awarding status, our education standards were inspected by five teams of the UGC on several occasions. They recommended us as eligible for such status. The gazette was published after the due procedure was properly followed,” Dr. Fernando said.
“We have been working under the guidance and approval of the Sri Lanka Medical Council (SLMC) from the start. They guided us to acquire the degree awarding status and then to build our own hospital for clinical training. We have fulfilled the first condition. We hope to apply for SLMC approval soon after the second condition is fulfilled in March 2012,” he said.
With regard to GMOA allegations about SAITM using government resources for clinical training for students, he said it was the SLMC’s decision to send medical students to government hospitals for clinical training. Meanwhile a medical student’s parent Priya Darmaratne said being Lankan citizens they too had a right to public property.
“We will like to point out that we are tax payers of this country and have a right to public property as we too have contributed to the development of public health services and hospitals.”
Padeniya files: GMOA ready for showdown
By Sandun A. Jayasekera
The Government Medical Officers Association (GMOA) yesterday protested the victimization of its President Dr. Anuruddha Padeniya for allegedly leading the campaign against the Malabe Private Medical College, and warned it would launch countrywide trade union action from Tuesday unless his personal file was returned to the Lady Ridgeway Hospital (LRH) Director by noon on Monday.
This comes in the wake of a statement from Dr. Padeniya being recorded by the Bribery or Corruption Commission on Tuesday over his two years of leave obtained for his postgraduate training at the Oxford University in Britain.
Dr. Padeniya told Daily Mirror that his personal file with all personal and official documents went missing and he did not know where it was. He expressed surprise and disappointment as to how it ended up at the Bribery Commission leading to an inquiry against him.
After a special executive committee meeting last afternoon, the GMOA decided to write to Health Minister Maithripala Sirisena demanding that he conducts an investigation as to how and why Bribery or Corruption Commission got access to his personal file.
The letter states that the GMOA had learnt that Dr. Padeniya’s personal file had been taken out of his present working station at the Lady Ridgeway Hospital after citing issues related to his leave.Leave is an administrative issue and the GMOA General Committee which met yesterday decided to resort to trade union action from Tuesday unless the personal file was sent back to Lady Ridgeway Hospital by Monday afternoon.
We request you to grant us an appointment to discuss this critical issue, the letter said. Dr. Padeniya said the Bribery or Corruption Commission had nothing to do with his leave and if there was any irregularity it was up to the health ministry to conduct an internal inquiry and take appropriate action if he had done anything wrong.
“I was granted leave from 2008 to 2010 by the Health Ministry on the guidelines of the Health Service Minutes for Foreign Training to follow my post graduate degree on Paediatrics. I left Sri Lanka in February 2009 and returned in July 2010 even without remaining in Britain and using my extra months of leave. I was duly trained for a sub-specialist for 18 months as an obligatory requirement and returned after that,’ he added.
Dr. Padeniya said he considered the recording of a statement by the Bribery Commission as a move to harass him as there was no complainant or a petition against him as far as he knew.
The Malabe Private Medical College responding to the Government Medical Officers Association (GMOA) threatening to take legal action against the institution, said yesterday the GMOA could not do so as the medical college had fulfilled all legal requirements necessary to obtain degree awarding status.
South Asian Institute of Technology and Medicine (SAITM) Chairman Neville Fernando said the institution had undergone proper legal and investigative procedures conducted by independent commissions prior to being approved by the University Grants Commission (UGC).
He said soon after the completion of the construction of the new 1002-bed high-tech private hospital, it would be used for clinical training by SAITM’s medical students.
“Before the gazette was published giving us degree awarding status, our education standards were inspected by five teams of the UGC on several occasions. They recommended us as eligible for such status. The gazette was published after the due procedure was properly followed,” Dr. Fernando said.
“We have been working under the guidance and approval of the Sri Lanka Medical Council (SLMC) from the start. They guided us to acquire the degree awarding status and then to build our own hospital for clinical training. We have fulfilled the first condition. We hope to apply for SLMC approval soon after the second condition is fulfilled in March 2012,” he said.
With regard to GMOA allegations about SAITM using government resources for clinical training for students, he said it was the SLMC’s decision to send medical students to government hospitals for clinical training. Meanwhile a medical student’s parent Priya Darmaratne said being Lankan citizens they too had a right to public property.
“We will like to point out that we are tax payers of this country and have a right to public property as we too have contributed to the development of public health services and hospitals.”
Padeniya files: GMOA ready for showdown
By Sandun A. Jayasekera
The Government Medical Officers Association (GMOA) yesterday protested the victimization of its President Dr. Anuruddha Padeniya for allegedly leading the campaign against the Malabe Private Medical College, and warned it would launch countrywide trade union action from Tuesday unless his personal file was returned to the Lady Ridgeway Hospital (LRH) Director by noon on Monday.
This comes in the wake of a statement from Dr. Padeniya being recorded by the Bribery or Corruption Commission on Tuesday over his two years of leave obtained for his postgraduate training at the Oxford University in Britain.
Dr. Padeniya told Daily Mirror that his personal file with all personal and official documents went missing and he did not know where it was. He expressed surprise and disappointment as to how it ended up at the Bribery Commission leading to an inquiry against him.
After a special executive committee meeting last afternoon, the GMOA decided to write to Health Minister Maithripala Sirisena demanding that he conducts an investigation as to how and why Bribery or Corruption Commission got access to his personal file.
The letter states that the GMOA had learnt that Dr. Padeniya’s personal file had been taken out of his present working station at the Lady Ridgeway Hospital after citing issues related to his leave.Leave is an administrative issue and the GMOA General Committee which met yesterday decided to resort to trade union action from Tuesday unless the personal file was sent back to Lady Ridgeway Hospital by Monday afternoon.
We request you to grant us an appointment to discuss this critical issue, the letter said. Dr. Padeniya said the Bribery or Corruption Commission had nothing to do with his leave and if there was any irregularity it was up to the health ministry to conduct an internal inquiry and take appropriate action if he had done anything wrong.
“I was granted leave from 2008 to 2010 by the Health Ministry on the guidelines of the Health Service Minutes for Foreign Training to follow my post graduate degree on Paediatrics. I left Sri Lanka in February 2009 and returned in July 2010 even without remaining in Britain and using my extra months of leave. I was duly trained for a sub-specialist for 18 months as an obligatory requirement and returned after that,’ he added.
Dr. Padeniya said he considered the recording of a statement by the Bribery Commission as a move to harass him as there was no complainant or a petition against him as far as he knew.
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