• Seek amendments to regulatory system 

The Government Medical Officers’ Forum (GMOF) accused the Government of regulatory shortcomings concerning private sector hospitals. 

The GMOF’s President, Dr. Rukshan Bellana, speaking to The Daily Morning yesterday (6), accused the Health Ministry of only focusing a major part of its attention on purchasing pharmaceuticals and the State health service while overlooking the discrepancies that are taking place in the private sector and its hospital system. He noted that the situation had become a topic of discussion on social media platforms where most private sector hospitals – especially those in Colombo and its suburbs – are accused of charging exorbitant amounts from their patient population who mainly comprise patients from middle-income families. “While these hospitals are known to charge high prices for laboratory services, they also have a sizable income from patients who are admitted to hospitals. Most often, room charges which amount to about Rs. 50,000 per day include a lot of hidden costs which are included in the final bill when the patient is to be discharged from hospital”. He lamented however that the professionals working in those hospitals and staff are paid comparatively low wages for the service that they provide. “Most of these hospitals are owned by the country’s business community”. 

Hence, he urged the Ministry to appoint a consultative council to advice the Government to review the regulatory system and introduce necessary amendments. 

Senior sources of the Ministry, when contacted for comment, told The Daily Morning that regulatory changes are made difficult with the owners of private hospitals holding membership, following a Court of Appeal decision, in the Private Health Services Regulatory Council (PHSRC). Therefore, taking decisions and implementing them has become an uphill task for the Ministry, they lamented. 

However, several attempts to contact the Chairperson of the PHSRC who is the Director General of Health Services, and its Secretary, proved futile.