Private Medical College issue settled with SLMC?

February 10, 2012, 9:39 pm , The Island.


By Don Asoka Wijewardena

South Asian Institute of Technology and Medicine (SAITM) Chairman Dr. Neville Fernando told ‘The Island’ that they met Sri Lanka Medical Council (SLMC) President Prof. Carlo Fonseka a few days ago and came to a settlement.

Dr. Fernando said that when Prof. Fonseka was informed about the construction of a teaching hospital for Malabe private medical college students, Prof. Fonseka was extremely happy. "He asked me when the hospital would be ready for clinical training. I told him that it would be ready by April in 2012."

Prof. Fonseka had suggested that if the teaching hospital was not ready by April 2012, the first batch of students should be sent to Nizhny Nogvorod State medical Academy of Russian federation (NNSMA) for clinical training. Prof. Bulanov – Vice Chancellor of the Academy and Prof. Vladimir Zabainov – Vascular surgeon and Dean of International Affairs agreed wholeheartedly to accommodate the students for one year and they could come back to Sri Lanka to continue their medical training, the SAITM Chairman said.

Dr. Fernando said that if the hospital was made ready earlier, students could return to Sri Lanka. SAITM invited Prof. Fonseka to visit Malabe PMC as early as possible as he would be able to see the teaching hospital which was being constructed adjoining the PMC.

According to Dr. Fernando, the SAITM delegation that met the SLMC President included Prof. Bulanov, Prof. Vladimir, Vice Chancellor of SAITIM Prof. Malkanthi Chandrasekara, Director Administration Dr. Sameera Senaratne and Dean the Faculty of Medicine Prof. Shanthi Gunawardana.

GMOA tries to justify its opposition to appointment

February 10, 2012, 9:38 pm , The Island.

By Don Asoka Wijewardena

Government Medical Officers’ Association (GMOA) President Dr. Anuruddha Padeniya yesterday said that GMOA would never take arbitrary decisions against any person or any organization. The appointment of Dr. Shirley Herath to the Sri Lanka Medical Council (SLMC) by Health Minister Maithripal Sirisena was illegal in terms of the Sri Lanka Medical Ordinance, because the Health Minister had been vested power only to appoint four persons to the SLMC and had already appointed Prof. Narada Warnasuriya, Dr. G. Weerasinghe, Dr. Aruna Rabel and Prof. Colvin Gunaratne to it.

Dr. Padeniya said that Dr. Shirley Herath was appointed to the SLMC on January 12, but he was not registered with the SLMC. It was a requirement of the Sri Lanka Medical Ordinance under section 13 that to become a member of the SLMC, it was essential to get registered with the SLMC. But up to January 12 he had not been registered with the SLMC. At the same time there were no vacancies on the SLMC Board.

He pointed out that the responsibilities of any SLMC member were to provide quality health care services, streamline medical education and implement code of ethics for all doctors. A person appointed as SLMC member should have flawless character; integrity and ability take unbiased decisions. But there was a question as to whether Dr. Shirly Herath possessed all such qualities.

Dr. Padeniya said that Dr. Shirley Herath was the pioneer in opening of a private medical college in Piliyandala in 2005. But the SLMC had turned down the registration of the medical school. Later, the then SLMC President H. H. R. Samarasinghe’s residence was bombed and SLMC Registrar Dr. A. Pandithratna’s house was also fired at.

He noted that when taking above mentioned points into consideration, Dr. Shirly Herath was not eligible for any position in the SLMC. Around 43 medical organizations, including the GMOA expressed their dissatisfaction over the appointment. Minister Sirisena acted on the spur of the moment and removed him officially, when the wrong action was brought to his notice.

Re-scrutiny of A/L scripts begins

The Island

by Nilantha Madurawala

The re-scrutiny of the GCE (A/L) 2011 examination answer scripts will

commence today. The examination department received nearly

145,000 applications for re-scrutiny. "It was the highest number of

application asking for re-scrutiny in the department’s history," an official

of the ministry said. The department has decided to refund the monies

charged for re-scrutiny of  those whose results change.