Patients admitted to the National Hospital of Sri Lanka in Colombo are waiting two to three days for MRI scans because the number carried out each day at some units has been capped, a specialist has alleged, delaying planned surgery.
Specialist Dr Chamal Sanjeewa said the number of MRI scans performed daily at certain units of the national hospitals in Colombo and Karapitiya had been restricted to between 10 and 12, the Daily Mirror reported.
Which patients are affected
Patients in Wards 81, 9 and 10, and in the Neurotrauma and Neurosurgical units, are among those affected, he said. Some remain on the wards for several days waiting for a scan, which in turn pushes back operations that cannot proceed without the imaging.
The machines are there
Sanjeewa’s objection is not that the hospital lacks equipment. He said four MRI machines at the Colombo National Hospital, each worth roughly Rs. 400 million, were not being used to their full capacity, and questioned why expensive equipment was being under-used when official circulars instruct hospitals to ensure the maximum possible utilisation of medical equipment.
“A patient is admitted to a ward and stays for three days, but the surgery cannot be performed because an MRI scan is unavailable. Ultimately, an impoverished patient is compelled to pay Rs. 100,000 to get the scan done elsewhere. This is unacceptable when there is a Rs. 400-million machine available,” he said.
Patients who cannot get a scan inside the hospital are pushed into the private sector, where an MRI costs around Rs. 100,000. He said a similar situation was reported at the National Hospital in Galle.
Sanjeewa called for an immediate investigation and urged authorities to ensure the available MRI capacity is used effectively.
Part of a wider pattern
The complaint lands on the same day as a separate one about state medical equipment standing unused: the Government Radiographers’ Association says two cancer radiotherapy machines at Badulla and Hambantota have never treated a patient despite being installed and ready, held up over dosimetry equipment.
Sanjeewa is the same consultant who has called for an investigation into the procurement of cancer radiation machines for Apeksha and Galle hospitals, alleging that bid evaluators attended a supplier-sponsored event nine days before those tenders opened.
Not reported
The filing does not say who imposed the daily cap or why — whether it reflects staffing, maintenance, radiologist availability, consumables or a management decision — which is the central unanswered question. No response from the National Hospital, the Health Ministry or the units named had been reported at the time of writing, and the hospital’s account of its MRI throughput is not given.
The claim that four machines are under-used is Sanjeewa’s; this desk has not verified the number of MRI machines at the National Hospital or their individual cost. This report rests on a single verified newsroom, with no other outlet carrying its own account at the time of writing.
