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Leading hospitals run without Consultant Transfusion Physicians
Several leading hospitals including Karapitiya Teaching Hospital, Gampaha, Polonnaruwa, Batticaloa, Ampara, Vavuniya and Monaragala District General Hospital are currently operating without adequately qualified transfusion physicians, resulting in a significant gap in the provision of essential transfusion services, it is learnt.
At present, the duties of a consultant transfusion physician at the aforementioned hospitals are covered by senior registrars who have completed only the post local training (post-MD).
According to the regulations of Postgraduate Institute of Medicine, a senior registrar should be overseen by a consultant transfusion physician.
As a case in point, the current senior registrar at the Karapitiya Hospital is due to travel for overseas training, leaving the hospital without a transfusion physician. Being a teaching hospital and the largest hospital in Southern Province, Karapitiya Hospital caters to a large number of critically ill patients, including those who need plasma exchange and plasma paresis.
In addition to this conducting blood donation campaigns, the Hospital maintains the stocks for the entire Karapitiya cluster of blood banks such as Kamburupitiya, Balapitiya and Maternity Hospital Mahamodara.
Also, this hospital is a training centre for post graduate training in transfusion. However, operations have come to a standstill due to the non-availability of a qualified consultant at the hospital.
Meanwhile, three retired consultant transfusion Physicians at the Colombo National Hospital, Castle Street Hospital for Women and Lady Ridgeway Hospital have been asked to stay due to the unavailability of qualified transfusion physicians (Board certified) to fill the vacancies.
According to sources, the three consultants retired on June 30 upon completion of 63 years; however, the Health Ministry has been compelled to request the trio to stay on humanitarian grounds and considering the urgency of their service at the three hospitals.
Meanwhile, the Health Ministry has projected about 50 transfusion physicians for 2025; however, there are only 30 transfusion physicians of which six have migrated during the last two years while three retired this year, As such, the remaining physicians are 21, which is a serious concern according to health experts.
Furthermore, there are currently only two eligible consultant transfusion physicians available to fill ten vacancies, as indicated by the 2022 annual transfer list.
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