• JCPSM seeks talks with Health Ministry

The Joint Council of Professions Supplementary to Medicine (JCPSM) has warned that it may resort to trade union (TU) action if the Ministry of Health continues to ignore its requests for discussions on professional issues and patient care.JCPSM General Secretary Chanaka Dharmawickrema told The Daily Morning yesterday (11) that the Council had been seeking meetings with the Health Minister, Health Ministry Secretary and Director General of Health Services (DGHS) for more than a year and a half, but had not been given an opportunity to discuss its concerns.“We have been asking for discussions on problems affecting our services, the health sector and patient care for more than a year and a half. However, we have not been given these discussions. If our issues cannot be resolved through discussions, we will have no alternative but to take TU action,” he said.The JCPSM brings together TUs representing professionals in radiology, radiotherapy, laboratory services, pharmacy, audiology, physiotherapy, occupational therapy and speech therapy.Dharmawickrema said members faced several issues, including staff shortages, delays in revising approved staff cadres and problems within hospital administrations.

He said the Council had met DGHS Dr Asela Gunawardena in January, 2026, but the minutes of the meeting had not yet been provided. The issues discussed at the meeting had also not been resolved, while requests for meetings with the Health Minister and Health Ministry Secretary have gone unanswered, he claimed.Dharmawickrema also questioned the impact of new equipment on patient care, claiming that the installation of new machines had not reduced waiting lists and that patients continued to face delays in receiving treatment.He further alleged that inaccurate data supplied by the Ministry had affected cadre revisions, with requests for additional posts failing to secure approval from the Management Services Department due to insufficient justification.However, Deputy Health Minister Dr Hansaka Wijemuni told The Daily Morning that the Ministry had provided reasonable opportunities for discussions to trade unions that had requested meetings. “There are more than 300 TUs in the Ministry. We have given them reasonable opportunities and time for discussions. If we were to allocate a separate day to each union, we would need more than 300 working days, while we have only around 200 working days available. Therefore, it is difficult to accommodate every request immediately,” he said.

Wijemuni said unions that had not yet received an opportunity to meet the Ministry could submit fresh requests, adding that reasonable time would be allocated. He also said there had not been a general criticism from TUs claiming that they had been denied discussions.