The Government Medical Officers’ Association (GMOA) has announced plans to intensify its trade union action, accusing the government and the Health Ministry of repeatedly violating written agreements reached to resolve issues affecting the hospital system and medical officers.

In a statement issued on February 16, the GMOA said the escalation follows the Health Minister’s failure to honour written assurances given in December 2025 to address longstanding concerns, including human resource shortages, infrastructure deficiencies, salary anomalies and cuts to allowances and benefits.

The union said doctors across the country continue to face severe challenges while delivering services, citing shortages of staff, equipment and basic facilities within hospitals.

The GMOA said that despite submitting evidence-based reports and engaging in discussions, the government has adopted what it described as an “arrogant” approach and has failed to implement agreed solutions.

The association, which claims a membership of more than 23,000 doctors, said several islandwide trade union actions are already under way. These include suspending the issuance of external referral notes for medicines, laboratory tests and equipment unavailable in hospitals, and withdrawing from voluntary participation in health camps organised by political groups.

The union has also decided not to assign doctors to newly opened hospital wards lacking approved staff numbers and to refrain from examining patients in settings without adequate safety and privacy safeguards. Specialist doctors have also withdrawn from certain coverage duties, the statement said.

In addition, from February 18, Medical Officers of Health (MOH) will withdraw from officially submitting a range of public health data and reports to the Health Ministry and relevant institutions. These include daily, weekly, monthly and quarterly reports on communicable diseases, dengue cases, immunisation data, maternal and child health, school health and other public health indicators.

The GMOA warned that if the government continues to avoid implementing agreed measures within a defined timeframe, trade union action could be further intensified. (Newswire)

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