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Hospitals at risk due to shortage of nurses

11 Nov 2022

  • ACNU warns of hospital operations being affected by 13,000 vacancies and around 2,000 nurses going overseas 
BY Buddhika Samaraweera Claiming that there should be at least 60,000 nurses in hospitals, but that there are only about 47,000 at present, and with a considerable number of nurses out of the existing cadre also leaving the country for jobs abroad due to the prevailing economic crisis, the All-Ceylon Nurses Union (ACNU) stated that it will not be possible to maintain the operations of hospitals if the Government does not take immediate steps to address the issue. Speaking to The Morning, ACNU President S.B. Mediwatte said that due to various financial issues that they are facing, both doctors and nurses are leaving the country for jobs abroad in large numbers. In addition, he said, the Government has not taken steps to recruit nurses to fill the vacancies that emerge, which has resulted in the escalation of the long-prevailing shortage of nurses. "According to the data we have received, 400-500 nurses out of about 3,000 nurses of the National Hospital of Sri Lanka in Colombo, about 200 nurses of the Teaching Hospital in Kurunegala, and 27 out of the 150-175 nurses of the Colombo East Base Hospital in Mulleriyawa have left the country for foreign employment. This situation reflects the way that the Government treats nurses who are delivering a great service in patient care," he explained. Claiming that about 2,000 nurses have left the country over the past two years, Mediwatte said that this situation will become worse in the future, as the Government continues to ignore their issues. He added that although there should be at least 60,000 nurses in the country as per the current requirement, there are only about 47,000 nurses, while the Government in 2016 had estimated that there should be 48,000 nurses. "We do not think that the Government and the authorities are unaware of these issues. They are well aware of this and it is doubtful as to whether they are purposefully allowing the emergence of a situation where the hospitals will not be able to function. At such a point, they can privatise the health sector as has been planned for a long time. When the hospitals do not have adequate staff, the authorities will easily ask patients to visit private hospitals or pay for Government hospitals to receive treatment," he claimed. Given the prevailing economic crisis that was caused by the lack of foreign currency reserves in the country, the Government has focused on reducing Government expenditure through various means. As a step towards this, the Government recently decided to allow the public servants to obtain no pay leave for a period of five years, and leave for other countries for both higher education and employment. Health Minister Keheliya Rambukwella has also mooted paid services within State hospitals.


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