The Joint Council of Professions Supplementary to Medicine (JCPSM) has expressed disappointment over the failure of the 2027 Budget to address long-standing allowance grievances of health professionals.
Speaking to The Daily Morning, JCPSM Secretary Chanaka Dharmawickrema said the Budget had failed to address payments for extra duty and work on public holidays, while changes to existing rates had further disadvantaged members.
He said health professionals had previously received extra-duty and public-holiday payments calculated at one-20th of their basic salary, under a system introduced in 1978. However, the rate had been reduced to one-30th under the present Government, while the hourly overtime calculation had also been changed from one-160th to one-200th of the basic salary.
The JCPSM had sought an improved overtime rate in line with that received by doctors, whose rate had previously been one-80th of their basic salary. “Instead, the rate applicable to our members, which was already lower, has been further reduced,” he said.
Dharmawickrema said these issues were particularly concerning given staff shortages and the growing demands on the health service, with supplementary medical professionals required to work weekends, public holidays and round-the-clock shifts, including on-call duties.
He also questioned the failure to increase their special duty allowance, noting that doctors’ Disturbance, Availability and Transport (DAT) allowance had been raised to Rs. 95,000, while supplementary medical professionals had received no comparable revision. He said doctors’ allowance had previously been increased from Rs. 35,000 to Rs. 75,000, while the corresponding allowance for supplementary medical professionals had risen by only Rs. 3,000. Outstanding arrears of Rs. 10,500 also remained unpaid, he added.
However, he welcomed allocations for laboratory services, including scanning, cath lab and MRI equipment, and the proposed transfer of certain Northern and Southern provincial hospitals under the Central Government.
Meanwhile, the Government Medical Officers’ Association (GMOA) said it was too early to assess the Budget without examining its contents in detail. A representative said the assessment would consider progress in recruitment, human resources, health funding, infrastructure, medicines and equipment, as well as actual utilisation of previous allocations.
The representative said proposals had to be assessed on their implementation rather than their inclusion in the Budget.