Why are the doctors leaving Sri Lanka?
By: Vasantha Shasha
Tags: Why, Are The, Leaving, Sri Lanka, Doctors

Why are the doctors leaving Sri Lanka?

Those who rightly or wrongly want their children educated in an internationally accepted medium of instruction must have the right to do so. Sri Lanka is a tiny country and its main language is spoken in no other country. We are geographically sufficiently insular without becoming mentally insular by cutting ourselves off from the rest of the world. Politically this may pay dividends but for technological advancement it is disastrous.

Despite all the shouting and attempted brain-washing by politicians, the demand today, even in the village is for facilities to study English because many feel that the door to progress, especially in the professional and technical subjects, is closed without knowledge of English. If politicians in this country insist on scrapping English as the medium of instruction in the professional and the technical subjects in the university. This country must be prepared to face a massive exodus of educated Ceylonese.

Political interference in the running of the Health services takes many forms. Senior politicians rarely interfere directly. It is the back bench politicians and political stooges and henchmen often in the mattes that produce chaos in the running of our hospitals.

Those administrators who are capable of running our hospitals have their hands tried by these hospital committees who have neither the intelligence and competence nor the honest incentive necessary to run these institutes. A scrapping of the hospital committees and the stopping of interference by politicians in hospital appointments and dismissals will make a greater contribution towards eradicating the inefficiency and indiscipline in our hospitals than any other single measure. This important step will require Prime Ministerial action since the Health Department cannot control politicians.

Today is indeed the age of common man. If the common man is given a free license to practice any form of dishonesty to evade work and to resort to thuggery then it should be no surprise if the uncommon man leaves.

There is no point in suggesting ways of improving conditions of work that involves a vast expenditure. What is more realistic is to suggest ways of improving our conditions of work within the framework of what we are already spending.

No doctors after five years of specialized training want to be a clerk. Nevertheless, the administrative machinery in the hospitals, especially in the smaller hospitals, is such that the Department of Health expects Doctors to spend a large amount of time doing what a clerk or junior administrator should be doing. A doctor must do what he is trained to do rather than have to settle disputes between minor staff.

NOT CLERKS

If a Doctor is asked to do the work of a clerk those who do not wish to be clerks after such a long period of training will get disgruntled and go to some country where they are allowed to practice the science they have learned. This country must also realize that it is cheaper to comply a clerk to do the job of a clerk. A re- thinking of the function of a Doctor is both urgently needed and within our power to implement.

THE WORK ITSELF

Certain basic facilities e.g. basic laboratory facilities and certain basic drugs must be available in a hospital in order to justify the presence of a doctor there. Today a doctor is sent to a particular hospital because the local member of sufficiently voluminous noise demanding a doctor. no consideration is given as to whether it is economically justified to send someone whose training has cost the text payer some of money to a place where the is barely a roof over ten beds and which is in facta referral station rather than a hospital.

If a hospital is too small to have these basic facilities it is certainly too small to be manned by a doctor. The number of hospitals without these basic facilities is increasing at an alarming rate because we have decided that what is needed is to be able to boast that some new Health units have been opened in the past years.

We simply cannot afford this waste of a commodity we are short of by allowing them to idle in some places which neither needs a doctor nor gives him the necessary facilities to practice his art.

CHANGE RULES

We might have to alter some of our exchange control regulations. a doctor who has worked for ten years abroad wants to return here, if this country is really in need of doctor expertise. we have only one of two alternatives. We can consider his case and decide whether we can accommodate his request and get him of refuse his request and lose him probably forever.

To my mind there is really no problem in providing the incentives which would encourage our doctors to stay or even return. What is required is a change of attitude especially amongst the administrators.do we want these people? if we do we might have to behave as thought we want them