Sri Lanka Health System Review

Page 150

5.6 Emergency care Although care for emergencies and accidents have been available in government health institutions since the inception of health care, the current model of specific services for emergency and trauma care in Sri Lanka was established with the introduction of the first ever Emergency Treatment Unit (ETU) at the Base Hospital, Nuwara Eliya in 1988. This was followed by the rapid establishment of similar units in many other hospitals (Ministry of Health, Nutrition and Indigenous Medicine, 2015b). The establishment of the Accident Service of the National Hospital in Sri Lanka in 1991 was a major milestone in emergency and trauma care. The A&E policy of the country was developed in 2016, the main aim being the organization of coordinated, stratified and cost-effective A&E care services within the country. In Sri Lanka, provision of both pre-hospital and emergency care are under the purview of the MoH. The ageing population and an increase in the numbers of people requiring emergency care for NCDs, especially traffic accidents, have resulted in an increased need for emergency care services. Currently, an A&E treatment unit is available in all government facilities, including and above the level of BHs. These offer A&E services of varying sophistication. Some DHs also have small emergency care units. PMCUs, which currently provide only outpatient care, will have functional emergency care units as identified in the Essential Services Package under the new reforms.

5.6.1 Services for patient transport and pre-hospital care Pre-hospital care was available as a fragmented service, provided in response to demand through the fire brigade ambulance service within the Colombo municipal area, ambulance service in Jaffna, St John’s Ambulance Brigade and small-scale privately owned ambulance services. Furthermore, the public sector has 689 ambulances in running condition used for transporting patients between institutions, which can be mobilized in case of emergencies. A pre-hospital toll-free ambulance transport service (Suwasariya) was initiated in 2016 as a donation to the Sri Lankan people from the Indian Government. This service was first instituted as a pilot system and since then has been scaled up to cover the entire country. It is implemented under the Ministry of Economic Development and Public Distribution and is managed by the MoH. A toll-free hotline 1990 has been made available for this service. It transports patients from their homes or accident victims from any location to government hospitals. It is only in very rare situations, such as the need for

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9. Appendices ................................................................................................ 206 9.1 References

21min
pages 230-247

9.3 About the authors

4min
pages 250-254

7.6 Transparency and accountability

18min
pages 220-229

9.2 HiT methodology and production process

2min
pages 248-249

7.4 Health outcomes, health service outcomes and quality of care

5min
pages 203-205

7.3 User experience and equity of access to health care

14min
pages 195-202

7.1 Objectives of the health system

4min
pages 182-183

7. Assessment of the health system .......................................................... 157 Chapter summary

1min
page 181

6.3 Future developments

10min
pages 174-180

developments in Sri Lanka

1min
page 164

6.2 Analysis of recent major reforms

17min
pages 165-173

6. Principal health reforms ......................................................................... 139 Chapter summary

1min
page 163

medicine

2min
page 162

5.11 Mental health care

5min
pages 157-159

5.13 Health services for specific populations

1min
page 161

5.8 Rehabilitation

3min
pages 153-154

5.7 Pharmaceutical care

3min
pages 151-152

5.6 Emergency care

2min
page 150

5.2 Curative care services

3min
pages 145-146

5.4 Inpatient care

3min
pages 148-149

4.2 Human resources

6min
pages 117-120

5. Provision of services ................................................................................ 113 Chapter summary

1min
page 137

4.1 Physical resources

1min
page 104

4. Physical and human resources ................................................................ 78 Chapter summary

3min
pages 102-103

3.7 Payment mechanisms

1min
pages 100-101

3.6 Other financing

1min
page 99

Figure 3.8 OOP spending on health by expenditure deciles, 2016

11min
pages 86-92

3.5 Voluntary private health insurance

3min
pages 97-98

3.2 Sources of revenue and financial flows

2min
pages 81-82

3.3 Overview of the public financing schemes

2min
page 85

Figure 3.6 Financing system related to health-care provision

0
page 83

3. Health financing ......................................................................................... 48 Chapter summary

1min
page 72

2.9 Patient empowerment

7min
pages 68-71

2.8 Regulation

8min
pages 64-67

2.7 Health information management

5min
pages 61-63

2.6 Intersectorality

3min
pages 59-60

2.4 Decentralization and centralization

3min
pages 56-57

2.2 Overview of the health system

1min
page 52

2.1 Historical background

2min
page 51

2.3 Organization

1min
page 53

2. Organization and governance ................................................................... 26 Chapter summary

1min
page 50

1. Introduction .................................................................................................. 1 Chapter summary

1min
page 25

1.4 Health status

11min
pages 37-43

1.3 Political context

2min
page 36

1.5 Human-induced and natural disasters

3min
pages 48-49

Figure 1.1 Map of Sri Lanka

1min
pages 27-28

1.1 Geography and sociodemography

1min
page 26

1.2 Economic context

2min
page 35

1 Analysis of the significant health reforms that affected health

2min
page 30
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