Uva hospitals’ strike ends after CM expresses regret

The strike action launched by doctors and staff at government hospitals across the Uva Province has come to an end from today (6) after the Chief Minister of the province had expressed his regret over the incident which led to the trade union action.

Uva Province Chief Minister Chamara Sampath Dassanayake had allegedly verbally abused the Badulla Director of Health Services over an incident pertaining to the construction of a road to the Demodara Divisional Hospital.

Doctors and staff of all hospitals in the Uva Province launched a strike action on Wednesday (April 03) in protest over the incident, by withdrawing from all duties excluding essential services.

This had crippled services at government hospitals across the province as a large number of patients were left stranded and unable to receive treatment.

However, representatives of the Government Medical Officers’ Association (GMOA) including its Uva Province coordinator met with the chief minister for a discussion last night at the Governor’s Office to resolve the issue.

At the meeting, the Chief Minister had handed over a letter expressing his regret over the hardships faced by the public as a result of the strike action.

Speaking to the media afterwards, Dassanayake said that the representatives of the GMOA had agreed to end the strike and return to duties and that he personally expressed his regret to the GMOA over the incident.

The GMOA confirmed that the strike was called off after the chief minister agreed to all their demands and admitted his responsibility in the incident in question.