Quality assurance, patient safety vital for robust health care system – Health Ministry Secretary
The combination of quality assurance and patient safety play a central role in the country’s exceptional health outcomes, Health Ministry Secretary Dr. Palitha Mahipala said.
The Health Ministry Secretary plans to establish independent councils in each hospital to ensure high quality healthcare facilities focus on patient safety.
As per the health statistics, Sri Lankans on average visit both public and private sector hospitals for various treatment services more than six times a year, he said.
The Health Ministry Secretary made these observations after participating in an inspection tour of Matale and Dambulla hospitals recently.
“In comparison with the countries in our region, the people of this country come to receive treatment services mostly in hospitals and outpatient departments. Around 55 million patients visit Government hospitals and another 55 million visit private hospitals per year,” he said.
Dr. Mahipala stressed the importance of taking immediate measures to strengthen healthcare services and disease prevention activities. “The large number of hospital inpatient admissions and OPD visits indicate the shortcomings of the medical treatment services and disease prevention activities”.
He also pointed out that in the global data analysis, about 20 percent of patients come to hospitals due to problems caused by drugs given to patients, and such patients also visits hospitals in Sri Lanka, and in terms of hospitalisations, Sri Lanka has a high rate of hospitalisations, which is 234 per one hundred thousand population.
During the inspection tour, the Health Ministry Secretary provided Rs. 100 million for the renovation activities of Matale District General Hospital and Rs. 30 million to purchase medical equipment. This amount was allocated in addition to the amount allocated earlier by the Health Ministry.
An amount of Rs. 200 million was previously allocated to the Dambulla District Basic Hospital to purchase a CT scan and the Health Ministry Secretary has also taken measures to allocate Rs. 360 million for the renovation of the hospital and Rs. 30 million for the purchase of essential medical equipment with the financial assistance of Asian Development Bank.
Health Services DG Dr. Asela Gunawardena, Health Ministry Additional Secretary Salinda Bandara, Deputy Directors Dr. S. Sreedharan, Dinipriya Herath, Phepariya Karunaratne, Central Provincial Health Services Director Dr. Nihal Weerasuriya, Matale District Health Services Director Dr. Kumudu Bandara, Matale District General Hospital Director Dr. Sumit Ratnayake, Dambulla Base Hospital Medical Superintendent Dr. Prabhat Udayanga and a group of health staff including specialists, doctors and nurses from Matale District General Hospital and Dambulla Base Hospital also participated.
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