Health Minister requested to probe Karapitiya Hospital incident:

'Doctors watching TV without attending to patient'

Mahinda P Liyanage, Galle Daily News correspondent

The Southern Province Media Centre (SPMC) requested Health Minister Maithripala Sirisena to initiate an impartial inquiry into an incident of an attempt by a group of doctors at the Galle Karapitiya Teaching Hospital to hand over a media man to police custody consequent to an argument between the doctors and the journalist over an alleged negligence of duties on the part of doctors.

The SPMC in a letter addressed to the minister stated that on June 9 around 7.30 pm, journalist Sajeewa Wijeweera had taken his mother who had fallen seriously ill to Karapitiya Teaching Hospital for treatment and on admission, she had been referred to the hospitals' Emergency Treatment Unit.

The letter said even after 30 minutes following her admission, the aged mother had neither been examined by the doctors nor been attended to by any of the hospital medical staff.

The letter said as the journalist's mother's condition was worsening, he had inquired about the delay in providing treatment to his mother when he found the House officers-in-charge of the ward in a tea room next to the ward, who came out of it after about 15 minutes and had started to watch a live telecast of a cricket match ignoring examining the patient.

The media organisation's letter said the journalist who was appalled by the negligent attitude of doctors had tried to contact the Hospital Director to complain about the unbecoming conduct of the doctors.

The letter said failing to contact the director, he had taken a photograph of the doctors watching television during duty hours from his mobile phone as proof of their inattentive approach to patient's treatment.

On noticing the act of the journalist, the doctors with some other hospital staff members had rounded him up and objected to his act and asked the officers of the Hospital Police post to arrest him. However, since he was able to contact the Southern Province police officers through his media organisation, his arrest was thwarted.

Nevertheless, as the doctors and hospital staff had not taken any measures to treat his seriously sick mother event after 45 minutes following admission, the journalist had released his mother from the hospital and taken her to a private hospital for treatment, the letter said.

Wijeweera lodged a complaint with Galle Police regarding the incident.