Heart patients

There is good news for all heart patients on the list of the National Hospital of Sri Lanka (NHSL), the premier heart centre, as the country greets the New Year.

While one of the Operating Theatres (OTs) of the NHSL’s Neurotrauma Unit is being utilised for open-heart surgery -- as a temporary measure until repairs to the Cardiothoracic OTs are concluded -- arrangements have also been made to use the OT of the Transplant and Epilepsy Building for four days of the week for heart operations along with an area converted to a four-bed Intensive Care Unit (ICU) on the same floor, the Sunday Times learns.

“Another measure is to transfer three to five patients requiring heart operations to the Sri Jayewardenepura Hospital every week, with the cost of these operations being borne by the government,” NHSL’s Acting Deputy Director-General, Dr. Kumara Wickremasinghe told the Sunday Times yesterday.

Explaining that these measures have been facilitated with the support of Health Minister Dr. Rajitha Senaratne and the DirectorGeneral of Health Services, Dr. Anil Jasinghe, he said that this follows the closure of NHSL’s four Cardiothoracic OTs due to repairs.

The repairs to the two Cardiothoracic OTs and the ICU located in the Cardiology Unit being carried out by the State Development and Construction Corporation (SD&CC) are expected to be concluded by the end of January, paving the way for the resumption of open-heart surgery, he assured, adding that the balance repairs to the two Cardiothoracic OTs and ICU sited within the main NHSL complex are to be handled by the army.

These measures follow in-depth discussions among Dr. Senaratne, Dr. Jasinghe and Dr. Wickremasinghe with the NHSL’s Cardiothoracic Surgeons and Cardiac Anaesthetists, it is learnt.

Meanwhile, a proposal to channel patients needing open-heart surgery to private hospitals with the government footing the bill had been discussed but set aside as “not being a feasible option”.