The Government Medical Officers’ Association yesterday warned that it would launch a continuous strike at the Anuradhapura Teaching Hospital from today if a senior grade medical officer, qualified to hold the post of director, was not appointed immediately. The GMOA warned that the strike would spread to other hospitals of the North Central Province if the present acting director was not replaced with a qualified senior grade medical officer who could coordinate all hospital development programmes and the much needed disaster management programme for the hospital.

Media Spokesman for the GMOA Dr. Upul Gunasekara, addressing a press conference at the GMOA head quarters said yesterday that the executive committee and the branch union had met with the Health Secretary yesterday to discuss the issue which had ruptured the smooth running of the hospital in the past weeks. The GMOA warned the Ministry that the strike would be spread to other provinces as well if it did not take action by the end of the week.

They urged the ministry to appoint a committee to settle issues regarding administration in the future. This is not

the first time that such a problem has occurred, he said. Dr. Gunasekara alleged that the ministry had failed to settle the issue due to its incompetence.

ATH is the third largest hospital in the island and has 200 doctors and 38 consultants serving at present. It is considered the main hospital which treats army casualties who are brought in from the hospitals of Mannar, Vavuniya, Weli Oya and Sampath Nuwara. It also attends to patients not only from the North Central Province, Puttalam, Vavuniya and Mannar.

GMOA Branch Secretary, Dr. A. P. Sampath said the Hospital had suffered under the present acting head as he had even failed to conduct the drug review committee meetings, and the management committee meeting for over one year. Under such circumstances the hospital did not have the necessary drugs not the medical equipment required.

He also failed to implement the Disaster management programme that had been devised by the health ministry, the GMOA and the armed forces in the event of an emergency or a chemical attack.

The Branch Secretary held that ATH would attend to all emergencies and casualties. However the Ministry has to take responsibility for the hardship suffered by the rest of the public. Doctors of the branch union are to meet late this evening at ATH to discuss the issue further.