“Private hospitals are adhering to Health Ministry guidelines”

The Sunday Times contacted the President of the Association of Private Hospitals and Nursing Homes, Lakith Peiris, on the readiness of private hospitals to meet the looming danger of the new coronavirus.

“The major private hospitals do have isolation facilities with negative and positive pressure, adequate Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) for the caregivers, but not for retail, and we follow the Health Ministry guidelines, while doctors, nurses and caregivers are trained on protocols, have standard operating procedures (SOPs) and risk mitigation plans,” said Mr. Peiris, explaining, however, that private hospitals are not geared to handle COVID-19 patients as in-patients. The ministry guidelines have clearly mentioned the designated hospitals in Sri Lanka that should handle these patients.

When queried, he said that there is no exclusive triaging for suspected patients, but there are clear guidelines of how a suspected patient should be handled with minimal risk. Sri Lanka is not identified as a country in the red zone. The guidelines include offering a surgical face mask to the patient; taking measures to access and transfer the patient to the nearest designated government hospital; and sending a prompt notification on such a patient (name, age, address and contact phone numbers) who fits the case definition to the Epidemiology Unit.

“Though Sri Lanka is not in the high risk zone, in the event of a possible outbreak (likelihood is less, however, the impact would be high) the level of preparedness to handle the virus should be assessed and the role of private hospitals in such a situation should be defined,” added Mr. Peiris.