New hospitals are constructed; specialised units are ceremonially opened but pathetically, in a short while are abandoned due to the shortage of nursing staff.
Despite this shortage of qualified nursing staff, employment opportunities abroad are being provided by health officials to well-trained nurses.
Ven. Murththettuwe Ananda Thero, Advisor to the Public Services United Nurses Union said there was a shortage of 15,000 nurses island-wide and authorities had failed to post the required number of specialised nurses needed in hospitals.
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| File photo: Student nurses |
“A number of new units have been opened recently” he said, “new equipment has been handed over to the health sector by different donor countries; this is good for our country, but they are being abandoned due to a shortage of nurses” the Thera said.The Ven. Thera said that nurses should be given promotions but in a way which does not excerbate the existing shortage. He pointed out a few weeks ago 1,186 promotions were made in a single instance without any replacements being made.
“We have continuously reminded the health authorities to give promotions in a systematic manner ensuring there would be no visible shortage”
It is useless erecting buildings and installing equipment if no trained staff is available and there is a shortage in nurses.
“There are wards which need well trained nurses, but as a number of them have been listed to be sent abroad we face a continuous situation of shortage of nurses” he said.
The Thera charged foreign donations and annual budget allocations for the health sector had not been utilised in a way which would prevent a shortage of health staff. He suggested prior to constructing new buildings or opening new units, a plan for training and recruiting nursing staff should be in place.
The Sunday Times learns the present nursing cadre is 19,000, but the country’s health sector needs more than 35,000 nurses. The crisis has worsened and it has now been revealed that the Cardio Thoracic Unit (CTU) at the National Hospital faces a shortage of nurses, which had led to closure of one bed in the cardio-thoracic intensive care unit and 8 beds in the High Dependency Unit (HDU).Dr. Upul Gunasekara, spokesman for the GMOA said that the Cardiothoracic Unit of the National hospital is the largest and oldest unit in the country and had performed around 1,000 open heart surgeries despite the shortage of nurses.
“Even though Consultant Cardiothoracic Surgeons and anaesthetists are available, it is impossible to carry on surgery without nurses as these patients had to be monitored for 24 hours and the service of nurses is essential” he said.
“Out of the 11 cardio-thoracic beds, one bed is now not functional and out of 12 beds in the HDU only 4 are functioning. “Due to the lack of nurses only 450 surgeries have been performed from January to up to date, compared to 1,300 in 2006.
“103 patients who have been on the waiting list for the past 6 months have been extended for a year and most of them are critical patients. There are more patients who are on the waiting list, but they are not a in critical condition” he added.
Usually around 9-10 cases per day are handled, but due to the shortage of nurses only 4 cases are taken up. "The Ministry and the Director of the hospital have been informed of the prevailing situation, but no remedial measures have been taken," Dr. Gunasekara claimed. Director of the National Hospital, Colombo Dr. Hector Weerasinghe confirmed there was a shortage of nurses. He said he expected to fill the shortage from nurses who passed out of nursing schools.
“We are compelled to release 103 specialised nurses of the national hospital as tutors in training schools. Some of these nurses were attached to the ICU” he said.
He added he could not refuse requests for transfers from nurses whose husbands are in the military and they had requested to be posted to operational areas.
He pointed out that it was not only the National Hospital which was experiencing these difficulties and added most hospitals were experiencing a shortage of nurses.
Saman Ratnapriya, convenor of the All Ceylon Health Workers’ Union charged training nurses for the ICU’s had not been done systematically and hospitals were now facing a crisis.
“Usually nurses are given special training prior to being posted to ICU’s and we have requested the health authorities to do this on an annual basis. Neglecting this system has caused the present situation in ICU’s islandwide” he said. | 
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