What Is Being “Taught” At The Kandy General Hospital?
By Emil van der Poorten –October 4, 2015
Emil van der Poorten
Not so long ago, a gentleman who appeared to have significant academic credentials and bearing a last name that has generated respect in this country for a long time – “Pethiyagoda” to be exact – wrote a scathing critique of conditions at the Peradeniya Teaching Hospital. For whatever reason and despite its incendiary content the article did not receive the attention that it deserved in the medium in which it was published.
I had occasion to visit the Peradeniya Teaching Hospital not so long ago and was not surprised by the fact that it seemed to personify a Sri Lankan edition of Bedlam caused by the usual – simple lack of funds to provide the elementary facilities for the people of this country who are accused (and I use the term deliberately) of using allegedly “free” health care. Among other things I was directed to change from the trousers and underwear I wore into the (white) sarong I needed to be clad in for the procedure I was to undergo. I was directed to the toilet located on that particular floor which I was told to use as a changing room. Unfortunately, that facility was barred, literally, because it was undergoing extensive renovation. Since, I did not need to use the facility for its avowed purpose, I crept past the barriers, effected the required change in clothing and returned to the theatre where I was to undergo the procedure concerned. Fortunately, I was not observed breaking this, hopefully, temporary “house rule” by any of the Security personnel on the premises. What also crossed my mind at the time was the hope that this “temporary closure” would not have been encountered by a patient who was awaiting treatment for incontinence or an associated malady!
If I thought that horror story could not be replicated elsewhere in the Central Province, I was in for a very rude surprise.
I expected that the Kandy General (Teaching) Hospital would be an improvement over its Peradeniya equivalent because to achieve that plane of excellence would not have taken much. Read More
