The Government Medical Officers Association said the Health Ministry had not been able train and recruit a sufficient number of psychiatrists for appointments in government hospitals. Only 20 psychiatrists have been appointed to serve the 20 million population. Of these 10 are attached to the National Hospital, Colombo but some of the tsunami affected districts did not have a single psychiatrist.

Healthcare Minister Nimal Siripala de Silva however said that around 60 doctors who went abroad for post-graduate studies on psychiatry had not returned to the country and as a result only 20 psychiatrists were confined to limited hospitals in the island. He outlined that he had already instructed health authorities to train all M. B. B. S. doctors on psychiatry and on successful completion of the courses the doctors would be awarded Diplomas. A number of doctors had been undergoing training on psychiatry and they would offer their services to mentally-ill patients. However, he did not want to comment on the administrative affairs of the PGIM as it was under the purview of the Higher Education Ministry.

The GMOA however claims that although the Post Graduate Institute of Medicine, which trains specialists, was under the purview of the Higher Education Ministry, it was the bounden duty of the Health Ministry to prioritize psychiatric training for doctors as a matter of urgency.

The PGIM, which is responsible for training of psychiatrists, has begun to offer a number of Diploma courses to non-medical personnel and for each Diploma a trainee is required to pay Rs.100,000 to Rs.200,000. The severe dearth of psychiatrists in Sri Lanka had crippled the healthcare services.

The GMOA has asked the Health Ministry to appoint an independent committee to investigate the administrative affairs of the PGIM as it was alleged to have become a money grabbing business organization.

The GMOA also alleges that a number of Diploma courses on molecular medicine and toxicology were provided by the PGIM to non-medical personnel and each trainee was required to pay Rs.100,000 to Rs.200,000 for one Diploma. The PGIM had also neglected the training of psychiatrists.

GMOA spokesman Dr. Upul Gunasakara said although the GMOA had asked the Health Ministry and health authorities to produce more psychiatrists to provide better health services the request had fallen on deaf ears and the GMOA was not satisfied with the administrative affairs of the PGIM because it had shirked the responsibility of training the required psychiatrists. Even the Diploma courses on ENT, Peadiatrics and Eyecare were not provided to doctors and training in hospital administration had not been conducted for the last 3 years. It was a shame that the PGIM had trained only 70 to 80 psychiatrists for the last 10 years and the doctors who went abroad for higher studies had not returned to the country.

Dr. Gunasakara said that apart from psychiatrists, only one neuro-surgeon and one thoracic surgeon had been serving the Colombo National hospital. In accordance with the 1980 Government gazette notification, the PGIM was entirely responsible for providing post-graduate courses to doctors in chosen fields, but the present affairs of the PGIM left much to be desired.

He added that the GMOA would meet the Secretary to the Health Ministry Dr. Athula Kahadaliyanage next week and request him to appoint a Committee to investigate the current administrative affairs of the PGIM. Although the Healthcare Minister had been boasting of the provision of better healthcare services, the services of psychiatrists and PGIM’s inability to train required number of doctors had tarnished the image of the medical profession.