Non-medical health officers harassed by the police- letter to the IGP reveals 

Non-medical health officials are undergoing ‘unnecessary interrogation and harassment’ caused by the police when they are traveling to work, a letter sent to IGP C.D. Wickramarathne, signed by its Chairman Ravi Kumudesh President of the College of Medical Laboratory Science (CMLS), states.

The letter further states that some police officers were of the opinion that only medical officers could travel in licensed vehicles with a health institute logo, and that other health professionals and staff were not included.

It added that there is no objection to checking to confirm whether a person carrying a health service logo is a health worker, but strongly rule out the principle of harassment if that person is not a doctor. They also requested the IGP to inform the police that the health service is a collective service and not just covered by medical officers.

In the letter the organization requested to inform the police officers to treat all health workers equally. The organization also said that if no close attention is paid to this issue all trade unions in the health services have decided to take a collective action against the issue.

“If the police or any other party believes that only medical officers should come in vehicles or that only medical officers should be in a hospital, and that officers who come for public service in their private vehicles in the midst of extreme difficulties continue to be unnecessarily harassed, trade union action would be implemented”, stated the letter.

“In a statement issued by the President, it appears that this may be due to the omission of the names of other health staff members when referring to the inspection of vehicles with hospital logos but making such a statement released to the media into a rule is a serious situation,” the organization mentions.

“Also, please note that the issuance of a vehicle permit by a health institution is not intended to measure the status of an individual, but only to indicate that the owner of the vehicle is a hospital staff member in order to enter and park the vehicle”