The Public Service United Nurses Union said that the reduction of the mandatory retirement age of nurses to 60 years may cause a number of problems in the future.

The President of the Union Ven. Muruththettuwe Ananda Thera stated that lowering the retirement age would further aggravate the existing shortage of nurses.

The Ministry of Health has filed a petition before the Supreme Court (SC) against the decision by the Court of Appeal (CA) to extend the mandatory retirement age of nurses to 63 years. Accordingly, the SC issued an order on 6 March to suspend the CA’s decision until the legal proceedings are concluded.

Based on that order, the Secretary to the Ministry issued a circular on 4 July, instructing that all nurses who have reached the age of 60 must be retired.