The outpatient department of the Lady Ridgeway Hospital for Children in Colombo has launched a 24-hour token strike from 8.00 a.m. today (July 19).
Speaking on the matter, the spokesperson of the Government Medical Officers’ Association (GMOA) Dr. Chamil Wijesinghe mentioned that the strike was initiated in protest of the arbitrary actions of a female specialist doctor at the hospital.
He said the ‘unacceptable’ and ‘unprofessional’ conduct of this medical officer has been a long-standing issue.
Dr. Wijesinghe said the hospital’s director has failed to resolve the matter by taking action against the specialist doctor in question despite the repeated complaints made by other medical officers against her.
This compelled the association to bring the matter to the attention of Director-General of Health Services (DGHS) Dr. Asela Gunawardena, however, he has failed to fulfil his promise to resolve the matter within seven days although three weeks have already gone by, the GMOA spokesperson continued.
Accordingly, a 24-hour token strike was initiated by the hospital’s outpatient department, however, emergency treatment continues regardless of the trade union action, the GMOA spokesperson said further.
