| News |
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| Anuradhapura
Hospital: No medicine, no staff, no surgery, no auditors Even if one dies there, the body should be removed immediately because the mortuary does not function. A frontline hospital with all necessary equipment and more than 1300 beds during the 20-year war, the hospital is today ailing with those who come for treatment being confronted with life-threatening scenarios. With pleas from doctors and civic conscious groups falling on deaf ears, the hospital - the third largest in Sri Lanka after the National Hospital in Colombo and the Kandy General Hospital - is in a financial mess and in a neglected state. Lack of funds is cited as the main reason for all the ills of the hospital, but whatever funds or equipment the hospital receives is unaccounted for, as the hospital has no auditors. For instance, a couple of years ago, five wards with 275 beds were opened, but today only five beds are there. Hospital authorities said the beds were taken for other hospitals, but since there is no auditing, no body knows what happened to them. It is a medical superintendent who has been authorized to carry out financial deals, but he has no powers if the transaction exceeds Rs. 500. Besides, he has no authority on capital expenditure. A hospital insider said he would not rule out corruption as it is general knowledge that things were not audited here. Some hospital authorities and the North Central Province's opposition politicians blame the provincial administration of PA Chief Minister Berty Premalal Dissanayake for the situation and point out that this was the only province where the main hospital is not run by the central government. A victim of
the haphazard power devolution under the provincial council system,
the hospital is heavily short-staffed. Vacancies for nurses, pharmacists,
clerks and telephone operators have not been filled for the past
couple of years. Attendants are called in to perform the duties
of clerks, pharmacists and telephone operators. With the hospital in such crisis, employee welfare is minimal or missing. Workers say they have not received any loans, allowances or promotions for the past three to four years. Water, electricity and telephone bills are in arrears. In October this year, the Water Board disconnected supplies, demanding Rs. 8 million in arrears. The supplies were restored only after the hospital managed to pay Rs. 3 million to the Water Board. The water bill arrears as of today is a staggering Rs. 13 million. Of the eight telephone lines, six have been disconnected. The telephone bill arrears as of today is Rs. 6 million. The company which supplied oxygen has also stopped its deals with the hospital as an accumulated bill of Rs. 2.5 million have not been paid. Only the Ceylon Electricity Board has not taken any drastic action although the hospital owes the CEB Rs. 8.5 million in arrears. Dr. D. L. Waidyaratne, former acting director, said he believed the provincial authorities were incapable of running a big hospital and therefore, the central government should immediately take it over. He said a memorandum was handed over to President Kumaratunga when she arrived for an opening ceremony to the hospital, but to no avail. Dr. Waidyaratne said the Provincial Council passed a meagre Rs. 125 million a year for the hospital, which was just one fourth of what the hospital required to maintain the basic facilities and services. But this year, the hospital had received only Rs. 60 million of the approved Rs. 125 million so far, a hospital insider said. As a result of lack of finances, even urgent repairs are not attended to. The roof of the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) is leaking and in a dilapidated state while the cardiac unit's operation theatre remains closed as its roof is also leaking. Although there are about 10 surgeons, they simply cannot perform any surgery because of lack of suture material and basic equipment. As a result the waiting list for surgery extends till October 2004. Eight surgeons have sought transfers, citing this state of affairs. Even medical interns find their posting a waste of time. Of the five ventilation rooms, only three can be used and patients who enter when all three are occupied have to face a life-threatening situation, the hospital insider said adding that during the war, a hospital had all the necessary equipment and medicine because it functioned as the frontline hospital for soldiers wounded in action. The hospital not only serves patients from the North Central Province, but it also gets transfer patients from Batticaloa, Trincomalee, Puttalam, Mannar and Vavuniya. Hospital officials said they have little option but to transfer all serious cases to Colombo. Hospitals in Kandy and Kurunegala have refused to accept patients from Anuradhapura. The insider said that although the opposition consisting of the PA and JVP had consented to hand over the hospital to the central government, a politician allegedly with vested interest is scuttling the move. When asked for his comments, Hospital Director Wasantha Dissanayake said that although he was being transferred out of this hospital, he like to see an early end to patients' woes. Senior surgeon Mahanama Gunasekara said another petition would be handed over to the President soon. Chief Minister Berty Premalal Dissanayake and Provincial Health Minister Ratnayake were not available for comment. |
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