The Hon. (Dr.) Nalinda Jayatissa

¶ 01 Hon. Deputy Chair, with a brief time, I will respond to a few matters.

¶ 02 First, on ambulances at Karapitiya, raised by the Opposition Chief Organizer, Hon. Gayantha Karunathilleka. You raised this in March as well. I obtained a report. The Galle National Hospital has 13 ambulances. From January to November, routinely one ambulance—LW-0215—was not in operation in January, February, and April; thereafter it functioned. Another—48-0201—has been out of service since March. The remaining, about 12 ambulances, have been operating.

¶ 03 Since elevation to National Hospital status, many specialist services have been established; transfers to Colombo are reduced. We discussed this with the Director; inter-hospital transfers to Colombo have significantly reduced. Current ambulance numbers suffice for their functions. We will allocate new ambulances when available, as some are old. I table the ambulance report.

¶ 04 Second, regarding a newspaper editorial and a report about Galle National Hospital. The Director wrote on 14 November to the Editor-in-Chief of “Lankadeepa,” noting the hospital runs 17 theatres daily, with two operating 24/7. Six run from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., performing around 40 major and 100 minor surgeries daily. Unless a specialist is abroad or on leave, theatres function normally. The paper corrected its report before the editorial was published.

¶ 05 On Colombo National Hospital Troponin I testing: I know the source of that information; it relates to the Director’s post. As I said at the outset, we cannot appoint a permanent Director because the Public Service Commission has not yet approved the procedure to fill seven Deputy Director General–level posts, including for National Hospital Director. Pending approval, we brought the LRH Director as Acting Director. During this time, a Deputy Director submitted an internet-downloaded document about the Troponin analyser, prompting a five-member inquiry. While the inquiry was ongoing, night-time Troponin testing was temporarily halted. Once we confirmed the report had no validity, testing resumed. When government labs cannot perform tests, samples are sent to registered private labs at government expense; patients do not pay. Some are spreading false narratives due to frustration over not obtaining the Director post.

¶ 06 Order, please! The Committee of the Whole Parliament will be suspended for the lunch interval until 1.00 p.m.

¶ 07 Sitting accordingly suspended till 1.00 p.m. and then resumed.