North-East to get 126 doctors

Appointment letters to 820 new doctors:

Nadira GUNATILLEKE

COLOMBO: The Health Care and Nutrition Ministry has recruited 126 doctors for North and East hospitals under Health Care and Nutrition Minister Nimal Siripala de Silva's direction.

This is the highest recorded number of doctors to be sent to the North and East hospitals at once and the highest number of doctors to be recruited at once in history, Ministry sources said.

The sources said 91 new doctors will be attached to the Eastern Province while 35 doctors will be sent to the Northern Province. President Mahinda Rajapaksa will hand over appointment letters to 820 new doctors on February 20 at Temple Trees.

These doctors will have to serve in all provinces. The doctors consist of 171 anaesthetists, 90 psychiatrists, 51 radiologists and 24 pathologists. The total number of specialist doctors is 336.

The number of doctors for Uva is 65, while the Southern Province will get 64 new doctors and 56 doctors will be sent to the Central Province.

The number of doctors to be sent to the Western Province is 53. Sabaragamuwa Province will get 46 and North Central and Wayamba 28 each. Apart from this, all hospitals under the line ministry will receive 287 new doctors.

Earlier, specialists were trained according to the recommendations of the Post Graduate Institute of Medicine (PGIM) which created an artificial doctor shortage.

But this system will be changed and the newly recruited doctors will be allowed to obtain specialised training through PGIM, sources said.

After the new recruitment, the shortage of specialist doctors in the country for a long time will be over.

The doctors' shortage at rural hospitals will be addressed after the recruitment.

New doctors for provinces
Uva: 			65
Southern: 		64
Central: 		56
Western: 		53
Sabaragamuwa: 		46
North Central: 		28
Wayamba: 		28