BY Kiara Warnasuriya Following the Cabinet’s approval to revise the retirement age of employees belonging to State-Owned Enterprises (SOE) on Tuesday (4), the Postgraduate Institute of Medicine (PGIM) has raised concerns about the new policy’s impact on the institute’s training programmes and patient care. In a letter addressed to Secretary of the Health Ministry Janaka Sri Chandragupta on Wednesday (5), which was seen by The Morning, PGIM Professor and Director Senaka Rajapakse has warned that a large number of medical specialists employed under the Ministry of Health will be retiring at the end of this year, according to the new policy and that this would deprive the institute of experienced trainers, leaving the medical trainees with no proper guidance. “The retirement of such trainers will result in many training units being deprived of an eligible trainer,” he said. Rajapakse added that most of these trainers are senior trainers in teaching hospitals whose vacancies, once they retire, will take almost up to six months to fill. “This would result in us having to relocate such trainees to other units, which would throw the smooth functioning of such units into disarray. This will significantly compromise their training, and adversely affect patient care,” the letter stated. Expressing further the gravity of the situation, he reminded the Secretary that senior specialists also “contribute immensely” to the academic operations of the institute and lack of their “academic input” will pose a serious problem to examinations. The retirement age of all State employees according to the 2022 Budget proposal presented in 2021 was extended to 65 years, and now with the revised Budget proposal has been lowered to 60 years, instructing that all State employees aged 60 or above must retire by the end of this year. Furthermore, the latest circular issued by the Ministry of Public Administration reads that in light of this new policy, 300 specialist doctors will be retiring by the end of the year.