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DGHS mobilises staff as ICU demand spikes

04 May 2021

  • Transfer orders halted
  Director General of Health Services (DGHS) Dr. Asela Gunawardena has taken steps to mobilise the health staff needed to fulfill the increasing demand for Intensive Care Units (ICUs) due to the surge in Covid-19 patients around the country. Speaking to The Morning yesterday (3), State Minister of Primary Healthcare, Epidemics, and Covid Disease Control Dr. Sudarshini Fernandopulle said that DGHS Dr. Gunawardena had taken necessary steps to ensure that a sufficient number of trained health staff would be available to manage the demand for ICUs in the country, with the reported increase in the number of Covid-19 patients who require ICU treatment services. “Transfer orders have also been stopped for roughly the next two to three months,” said Dr. Fernandopulle. Meanwhile, Ministry of Health Disaster Preparedness and Response Unit National Co-ordinator Dr. H.D.B. Herath told The Morning that a number of measures are in place to fulfill the demand for ICU staff if the need arises. “New ICU nurses would be needed only if new ICU beds are added to the system. In that case, health staff who have had previous experience working at ICUs and had been transferred, would be deployed for work at ICUs again. The Education, Training and Research Unit of the Ministry can also mobilise staff if and when needed, as long as they fall within the required level of competency,” said Dr. Herath. Dr. Fernandopulle said last week that Sri Lanka would add 70 more ICU beds in light of the escalating demand for ICU services from Covid-19 patients. Dr. Herath had told The Sunday Morning that a total of 15 ICUs with a total of 146 ICU beds have already been allocated to treat Covid-19 patients in the country. Of the 146 ICU beds allocated to treat countrywide Covid-19 patients, only 46 ICU beds were occupied by Covid-19 patients as of 2 p.m. on 30 April, while the rest had been occupied by non-Covid-19 patients.  


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