At present there is a proper pathway of identification of medical specialist at the government health sector. But this system is not legally applied to the private health sector of the country. This creates chaos within the health sector when unqualified doctors pose as Consultants putting lives of innocent public at risk. A large number of patients are facing lot of complications per year and sometimes even loss of life.
There had been various instances in the recent past where unqualified doctors who claim to be Consultant Cardiologists operated on patients in Sri Lanka which ended in numerous complications.
GMOA with the aim of implementing a proper procedure to manage this issue, has been working hard towards establishing a ‘Specialist registry’ & introducing an Evaluation Procedure for Foreign Medical Specialists since year 2011.
Unfortunately, three private hospitals, acting for the benefit of a few Consultants, moved the Supreme Court against this delaying the legalization of the proposed Evaluation Procedure for Foreign Medical Specialists. Currently we are fighting this in the court.
As of now the list of recognized specialist qualifications for medical officers and Dental Surgeons to be included in the Specialist Registry is being finalized based on the information given by the relevant Professional Colleges and Associations.
A meeting to finalise the list of qualifications required to be included in the Specialist Registry will be held on the 09th of April 2015 from 9.30 am at the Auditorium of the Ministry of Health under the chairmanship of Dr. P. G. Mahipala, the Director General of Health Services and the finalized draft of recognized qualifications will be forwarded for legalization.
