• NAO finds issues with Health Min. Info. Director and Prison Hosp. Director

The National Audit Office (NAO) has confirmed that the Medical Officer (MO) serving as the Director of Information at the Ministry of Health has travelled abroad 18 times between 21 January 2013 and 12 July of last year (2024), using two passports, without the relevant approval letters being placed in his personal file.

According to the audit report, which was seen by The Daily Morning, even on occasions when he had travelled abroad with the approval of the subject Minister, he had stayed overseas beyond the approved period. 

It further observes that he has repeatedly travelled abroad without formal approval and that he had done so despite written instructions from the Director of Medical Services at the Ministry to cancel his foreign leave. The report also states that there are 20 instances where he had departed the country before the date mentioned in his leave application and returned after the approved period had expired. 

Speaking in this regard to The Daily Morning, Medical and Civil Rights Professional Association of Doctors (MCPA) organisation’s President Dr. Chamal Sanjeewa claimed that this officer is now applying for higher positions and promotions within the Ministry.

The NAO has also revealed that the former Director of the District General Hospital (DGH) in Embilipitiya, who is at present the Prison Hospital Director, had used six types of household electrical appliances worth Rs. 285,755, purchased for Embilipitiya DGH use, for his official residence. The report further notes that the Deputy Director General (DDG) of Supplies at the Ministry had approved the provision of the said appliances, despite there being no provision for furnishing official residences. The audit further found that the Director of the Embilipitiya Hospital had built a chicken coop at his official residence after December 2024. It also revealed that the wire poles used for the residence had been removed and were unaccounted for. 

Although materials worth Rs. 158,221 had been purchased for renovations over time, the audit had been unable to identify what specific materials were bought. In addition, the audit report revealed that Government hospital security officers had been assigned to guard the said official residence, and that the Ministry has yet to conduct a proper disciplinary inquiry or take legal action in this regard. 

Dr. Sanjeewa said that the former Director of the Embilipitiya Hospital has since been appointed as the Director of the Prison Hospital by the DG of Health Services, Dr. Asela Gunawardena.

Health Deputy Minister Dr. Hansaka Wijemuni and Dr. Gunawardena were not available for comment.