A six-member expert committee has been appointed to study a proposal to create an intermediate grade for medical officers and to report back within one month.

The committee was appointed by Health and Mass Media Ministry Secretary Dr Anil Jasinghe on the instructions of Minister Dr Nalinda Jayatissa, Ada Derana reported. Deputy Minister Dr Hansaka Wijemuni chairs it.

Its terms of reference

The committee has been asked to carry out a comprehensive study covering how the proposed intermediate grade should be defined, which medical specialisations it would take in, how medical officers would be selected for those fields, how long they would serve, what benefits they would be entitled to, and how transfers would work.

It has also been instructed to obtain the views of the relevant professional colleges and other stakeholders before submitting recommendations to the ministry. The Daily Mirror, which reported the appointment a day earlier, gave the reporting deadline as one month; Ada Derana carried the same figure.

The membership

Dr Amila Suranga, a community medicine specialist in the ministry’s Planning Division, serves as committee secretary. The Daily Mirror named the remaining members as Additional Secretary (Medical Services) Dr W. K. Wickramasinghe, Deputy Director General of Health Services (Medical Services II) Dr Samindi Samarakoon, Senior Professor H. D. N. P. Opatha of the Department of Human Resource Management at the University of Sri Jayewardenepura, and Senior Professor Dilip de Silva of the University of Peradeniya.

Ada Derana listed the same five names but rendered the Deputy Director General as Dr Saminda Samarakoon. The two outlets also split on the chairman: the Daily Mirror gives Dr Hasanka Wijemuni, Ada Derana and Hiru News both give Hansaka. This report follows the form used consistently in earlier Sri Lankan reporting.

The inclusion of two university professors — one in human resource management rather than medicine — indicates the exercise is being treated as a public-service grading question as much as a clinical one.

What none of the reports explain

No outlet said what problem the intermediate grade is meant to solve, who proposed it, or whether it responds to a demand from any medical trade union. None reported how the grade would sit between existing medical officer and specialist grades, what it would cost, or whether it carries a pay revision.

None said which professional colleges will be consulted, or whether the recommendations will be published.

Sources