Medical student letter to Padeniya sir (replying Sarath Gamini sir)

 

Dr. A Padeniya,
President,
Government Medical Officers’ Association,
Colombo.

Dear Sir,

We have witnessed a letter addressed to sir by Dr. Sarath Gamini de Silva sir, a senior physician requesting sir to step down from the presidency of GMOA while criticising the continuous strikes by GMOA, particularly criticising the GMOA uniting with other trade unions and allowing the politician to address the GMOA. As a medical student of this era, I feel it is my responsibility to write to sir regarding this matter, although we may not have so many qualifications, experience to emphasise. Yet, I will use some simple points highlighted in the letter I stated above.

It was admirable to see a senior physician like Sarath sir’s stance on SAITM, which is to abolish the institute while providing a mechanism for the SAITM students to continue their studies. He also disagrees on nationalising SAITM, and is in accordance with the stance of the medical students, and not the stance of GMOA either. It is nice to hear so from a senior physician who has understood the problem and had the first-hand experience in matters related to SAITM.

In the long explanations about the trade union actions, Sarath sir justifies all trade union actions done by the GMOA when he was a committee member, “all those short lasting actions were justified as they were inevitable”. However, sir highly criticises matters related to several trade union actions with regard to school admissions and says, “I would not hesitate to label these strikes as a crime against society”. After all, he is worried about the image and reputation of the doctors, and how that is harmed by these trade union actions.

As a medical student, I have seen the progress of the SAITM issue. As to Sarath sir, trade union actions are a failure of a trade union for negotiation. In that regard, we have seen how GMOA participated in a meeting, made proposals, wrote letters, attempted to interfere in the courts related to SAITM and yet there had been no favourable response from the government what so ever. As a student, I remember how Prof. Lalitha Mendis madam resigned from the presidency of SLMC due to political pressure and several other attempts to manipulate the senior academics and the members of SLMC. Recently, all the academic parties in the meeting with the president presented several solutions for the issue and none of them is implemented. Yet, the ministers Sarath sir himself mentions in the letter proposes solutions that do not highlight the solutions of the institute that created the chaos in the health sector. As students, we have witnessed this injustice. The inert behaviour of the government and medical faculty administration for our silent measures for a reasonable demand, led us to resort to our last option of boycotting lectures, which is never an easy decision. Having the first-hand experience in this regard, we understand the journey the GMOA had to follow too.

During our canvassing, we understand that most of the doctors do not enjoy striking. They want to help the patients too. Failure of all negotiations has inevitably resulted in token strikes, provincial strikes etc which may cause minimum harm to the public. Yet if the solution is not reached, what should be the next step? Being a senior physician Sarath sir might be able to propose some new suggestions.

As a matter of fact, during our canvassing programmes, we talked to the public and daily we have arguments in the social media too. The main complaint the people have for doctors are, not talking to patients, being too much rushed in writing prescriptions, not being punctual to see patients, and much related to private practice, particularly of senior consultants who have a larger patient base. Thus, the rejection of doctors which is prominently shown on a strike day is against those consultants that fail to have an adequate time of consultation due to a large number of patients and the several places of consultation. So, despite requesting Dr. Padeniya to resign, a general letter to all consultants and doctors to treat patients with care would have been more applicable in the current context with regard to safeguarding dignity of the doctors.

As Sarath sir has agreed, SAITM is a massive fraud, protected by the political power. Hence, the political power will have to be overcome by the same in our context, because the academic power is not given any place at all, otherwise, the academic solutions to the problem must have already been accepted by the authorities solving the problem.

It is admirable to see Sarath sir having admired the leadership skills of Padeniya sir, particularly during the times when Sarath sir was active in GMOA when their demands were successful. While admiring, Sarath sir wants Padeniya sir to step down from GMOA presidency because someone new has to take in charge now. Whether a leader should be there for a longer period or not is debatable, I as a student to agree that the leadership is better to be changed for variety. However, I fail to understand the reasons pointed by Sarath sir for Padeniya sir to resign, and more so, if this is a genuine request, the need to display the letter publicly, in an era where politicians of all parties try to remove Padeniya sir for the presidency of GMOA for reasons unknown. This public letter on this background, therefore, raise my concern whether it is a genuine attempt.

However, Sarath sir himself displays the monopoly they must have maintained when criticising the GMOA joining with other trade unions in a common cause. Joining with other trade unions like this anyway is not something new and the same had happened in the previous issues of private medical colleges too. As a student, I fail to see the problem when GMOA works with other trade unions in matters of national concern.

Whatever reason Sarath sir has pointed out, the issue he has identified primarily; SAITM and the protests of the doctors, and the course of action requested; Padeniya sir to step down from the presidency to save the dignity of doctors in Sri Lanka doesn’t seem to match, for my primitive understanding on this topic. Moreover, if this was a genuine request, I fail to understand the need to make such a letter public, which also raise the concern if, while proposing this non-political approach, is Sarath sir also delivering the duties of some political agenda?

Whatever the request, a good leader will not leave his followers at issues, particularly when the issue is at its climax. So we sincerely request Padeniya sir to stand firm until the SAITM and other issues at hand already started by GMOA are finished. And when that happens, he may step down from the presidency and continue his work in the personal manner he wants.

Regards,

Medical students