A Health Ministry investigation into the treatment of a former Director of the Ampara Hospital who later died at the Sri Jayewardenepura General Hospital raised serious questions over the medical and nursing procedures followed in his care — and its findings have never been published.
Medical expert Dr. Chamal Sanjeewa has called on the Health Secretary to release the report, saying it contains several matters that require the attention of health authorities, Daily Mirror reported on Tuesday evening.
The dates matter
This is not a recent death. The patient, Dr. Lanka Jayasinghe, was admitted to Sri Jayewardenepura General Hospital in July 2020 and was treated across several units, including the Emergency Treatment Unit, general wards and the Intensive Care Unit. The investigating officer signed and submitted the report on 21 June 2023.
What is new is the demand that it be made public, more than three years after it was completed and six years after the admission.
What the inquiry examined
The investigation looked at the treatment given, the complications that followed, and the decisions taken by medical and nursing staff during the patient’s stay.
Particular attention was paid to the Percutaneous Endoscopic Gastrostomy (PEG) feeding procedure. Statements taken from doctors and nurses reportedly contained differing details about the procedure itself, the timing of feeding, and how the patient’s condition was monitored — a discrepancy in the staff accounts rather than an agreed sequence of events.
The report also examined changes in the patient’s blood pressure, complaints of chest pain, cardiac investigations, Troponin tests and ECG examinations before he was transferred to the ICU, along with the treatment given after he developed breathing difficulties. Coordination between doctors and nursing staff, the response to emergencies, and hospital administrative procedures were also reviewed.
Among its observations, the report stresses the importance of correctly identifying a patient’s primary medical condition — particularly in an emergency setting — and of following proper triage and referral procedures.
Not a finding of liability
The report explicitly should not be read as a final determination of criminal or professional liability against any individual doctor or health worker. Any such responsibility would have to be determined by the relevant authorities after considering the complete report, medical records and other material.
Dr. Sanjeewa, who chairs the Doctors’ Trade Union Alliance for Medical and Civil Rights, is a recurring source of health-sector accountability complaints. He was behind the CID complaint that triggered the substandard cardiac stents investigation and has previously pressed the Ministry over expired rabies vaccine procurement. He is a different person from the SJB’s former Ratmalana electoral organiser of the same name.
Still unanswered. The report does not appear to explain why it sat unpublished from June 2023, who commissioned it, or whether any disciplinary process followed. Neither the Health Ministry nor Sri Jayewardenepura General Hospital has responded publicly, and no other newsroom had carried the story at the time of writing.
