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| Sunday, 14 April 2002 |
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GMOA blames Health Department by Neomi Kodikara The present acute shortage of consultants and the relative dearth of anaesthetists in the state health sector is due to the inefficient administration of the Department of the Health Services, claimed the Government Medical Officers' Association (GMOA). The country lacks trained anaesthetists to deal with emergency and complex cases in state hospitals. The Director of Health Services, Dr. A.M.L. Beligaswatte, said that the problem had arisen since anaesthetists trained abroad did not return after their period was over. There are only 66 trained anaesthetists in the country. It takes about 4-5 years to undergo a specialised training for an anaesthetist. On completion of the two stages of training in Sri Lanka, they are sent abroad for specialised training for one year. Dr. Beligaswatte said that there was no hard and fast rule to stop anaesthetists from leaving the country but the problem could be overcome only by changing the attitude of each and every individual. "The government spends huge sums of money on foreign training but eventually the country loses both the `brains' as well as the money," he said. "Brain-drain is common in other countries, but Sri Lanka being a small country with a handful of specialists, the impact is felt much more. However, recovering the bond and requesting the embassies in foreign countries not to issue visas for Sri Lankan doctors trained at the expense of the government funds, are only measures aimed at minimising the brain-drain by the Ministry of Health," he said. On the recent case at Nuwara Eliya Base hospital where a token strike was launched by the doctors to express their protest over not appointing an extra anaesthetist, he said that only one anaesthetist had been working in the hospital since last October, where nearly 500 surgeries were performed a week. However, the DG confirmed that two more anaesthetists had already been sent to the Nuwara Eliya Base Hospital. In a bid to overcome the shortage of consultants in the state health sector, Cadre Projection 2010, has been formulated by the Department of Health Services, taking into consideration the requirements of the state health sector. Under the scheme, anyone aspiring to be a specialist to serve in the government sector should choose a field of speciality where there is a shortage and only those will be funded in the future. |
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