Govt aims to cut heart procedure waiting time from one year to one month

Health Minister Nalinda Jayatissa on Thursday (02) said the Government aims to reduce waiting times for cardiac catheterisation procedures from around one year to one month by expanding the country’s cath lab network. Speaking at the commissioning of two new cardiac catheterisation laboratories and a renovated Cardiology Day Case Unit at the National Hospital of Sri Lanka, the Minister said the number of operational cath labs across the state health system will be increased from 10 to 26 in the coming years. He also announced that construction of a 16-storey National Cardiac Treatment Centre at the National Hospital is expected to begin this year, with the Rs. 12 billion facility scheduled to open by September 2029. The two new cath labs at the National Hospital, built at a cost of more than Rs. 600 million under the Asian Development Bank (ADB)-funded Health System Enhancement Project, are part of a Rs. 1200 million programme that has added four new cath labs to the state hospital network this week. Similar facilities were commissioned earlier at the Jaffna Teaching Hospital and the Colombo South Teaching Hospital in Kalubowila. The Minister said the National Hospital now has three cath labs, enabling doctors to treat up to 45 patients a day and significantly reduce waiting lists for cardiac procedures. Consultant cardiologist Dr. Gamini Galappatthy said around 30 patients are added to the cardiac waiting list each day, adding that the two new cath labs are expected to reduce the current waiting period from about one year to approximately three months. The new laboratories are equipped with artificial intelligence-powered real-time imaging technology designed to improve diagnostic accuracy while reducing radiation exposure during procedures. (Newswire)