The Hon. Thurairasa Ravikaran

¶ 01 Hon. Presiding Member, please do not cut my time.

¶ 02 Thank you, Hon. Member Jegatheeswaran.

¶ 03 Your observations are correct. Our request is that appropriate action be taken. I have already emphasized these requests to the Hon. Minister of Health and submitted the necessary letters. I also went to the Office of the Hon. Prime Minister and handed over the relevant letters. Copies of those letters were given to the Hon. State Minister of Cooperative Development, Upali Samarasinghe, today through Hon. (Dr.) Sellathambi Thilakanathan, MP. Our plea is that these matters be fulfilled.

¶ 04 I wish to further place a few points on record. At present, the Mullaitivu District General Hospital has no permanent ward buildings and is functioning only in temporary structures. The male ward has 23 beds and the female ward has 19 beds. This problem has become more acute as we are unable to establish specialized treatment units. As we cannot accommodate all patients, they are being made to lie in waiting rooms, corridors and even on the floor. Due to the limited land area, patient care is in a worsened state.

¶ 05 During 2017-2018, with the assistance of the Government of India, a ward construction plan was initiated. However, that project has stagnated, and by the end of 2024 it had progressed only to the extent of soil testing. Considering the present crisis in the district and the growing needs, we request that the ward complex construction be expedited.

¶ 06 The Mullaitivu District General Hospital operates four ambulances which are essential for immediately transferring patients for higher-level treatment to hospitals such as Anuradhapura and Colombo. These ambulances have very high mileage, ranging from 200,000 km to 800,000 km, and are heavily used. Frequent breakdowns disrupt the ambulance service, delay transfers, and place patients in grave difficulty.

¶ 07 Next, regarding pharmacist cadre vacancies: pharmacists play a vital role in health services. Their main duties include maintaining the drug and medical supplies registers, stock management and warehouse upkeep. The approved pharmacist cadre in Mullaitivu District is 34, but only 13 are currently in service. For over five years, no training courses or recruitments for pharmacists have been conducted by the Ministry of Health. In some of our hospitals, pharmacist duties are being carried out by other staff under a medical officer’s supervision. I wish to state that this situation will have serious consequences for patient safety and quality.

¶ 08 Puthukudiyiruppu Base Hospital is centrally located and provides services to about one-third of the district’s population. However, there are no services of medical specialists or key allied health professionals such as laboratory technologists and X-ray radiographers.

¶ 09 Mankulam Base Hospital is a Grade “A” base hospital. It also has a provincial rehabilitation medical unit. Located on the A-9 Highway in a central position, this hospital is important. Through a recent project of the Government of the Netherlands, its service scope has expanded considerably and quality patient care is being provided. As an “A” grade base hospital, it must have all main specialist services and allied health services established.

¶ 10 Hon. Member, your time is up.

¶ 11 Please give me one more minute, Madam.

¶ 12 This base hospital is currently functioning without the services of an obstetrician, a paediatrician, a rheumatology specialist, and key allied health staff such as a physiotherapist and a radiographer.

¶ 13 An ambulance is needed for Alampil Peripheral Hospital, and a vehicle is needed for the Manal Aru (Weli Oya) Medical Officer of Health.