- Govt. negotiating steady supply: Dr. Jasinghe
- Shortages fuel surgeons’ reluctance: GMOA
A shortage of critical medical equipment and medication, coupled with an alleged surgical equipment fraud scandal uncovered recently, has led to growing reluctance among medical officers to perform neurosurgeries, The Sunday Morning learns.
Although no official directive has been issued to postpone or cancel scheduled surgeries, medical officers are increasingly concerned about the risks associated with limited availability of essential medical supplies.
This unease has been further intensified by unrest following reports of financial fraud in one of Colombo’s leading hospitals.
Government Medical Officers’ Association (GMOA) Assistant Secretary and Media Spokesperson Dr. Chamil Wijesinghe said: “It is not that doctors are refusing to perform surgeries, it is that they can’t. There is some reluctance among the doctors as there is a shortage of medicines, such as antibiotics and equipment.”
Dr. Wijesinghe emphasised that while medical officers remained committed to patient care, the current shortages posed significant risks.
Hospitals across the country have been permitted to procure urgently needed pharmaceuticals directly, bypassing lengthy normal procurement processes that can take months – an untenable delay when performing time-sensitive surgeries, particularly neurosurgical procedures.
“This is a crisis we had in 2023 and although we saw some improvement, we are once again heading in that direction. It is not a crisis yet as we are managing the situation, but we are seeing signs it is going to worsen,” he warned.
The GMOA Spokesperson also criticised the Health Ministry for lapses in effectively implementing strategies to resolve the crisis, despite ongoing discussions and some efforts by the ministry, and stressed the need for a clear mechanism or guidelines to manage both qualitative and quantitative procurement issues.
When contacted, Ministry of Health Secretary Dr. Anil Jasinghe acknowledged that certain shortages of medicines and equipment persisted. However, he highlighted ongoing negotiations for government-to-government (G2G) procurement agreements aimed at ensuring steady supply. These agreements are expected to be finalised before next year.
“We do have issues regarding local purchasing, especially due to prior incidents. However, there is no serious problem with it,” Dr. Jasinghe added.