Health officials look at re-deployment of specialists to meet crisis

The dearth of medical specialists was the focus of a high-level meeting of health administrators on Thursday morning, with more than 100 participants, both physically and on zoom.

The urgent need for the re-deployment of specialists had been discussed at length and included the “significant” impact of the current economic crisis on the health sector and how the crisis has worsened shortages in resources and funding leading to “impaired” capacity and quality of care, the Sunday Times learns.

While the Health Secretary, the Deputy Director General (DDG) of Medical Services, the DDG of Laboratory Services, the DDG of Dental Services and the DDG of the National Hospital of Sri Lanka (NHSL) had physically attended the meeting which was held in the office of the DG of Health Services around

9.30 a.m., outstation Provincial and Regional Directors of Health and hospital Directors had joined virtually.

The spotlight had been turned on how specialist services are being “badly” affected due to decreased infusion of specialists brought about by a lack of funds to complete comprehensive training; the retirement of skilled experts; the government policy on long-term no-pay leave; and unauthorised migration.

The challenges that had been brought to the fore had included: Limited financial resources to hire new staff

Lack of clear guidelines and protocols for re-deployment

Resistance from existing staff to be re-deployed to different roles and locations

Inadequate infrastructure and equipment to support re-deployed staff

Difficulty in identifying and prioritising the essential positions to be filled through re-deployment Communication challenges in disseminating information and coordinating re-deployment efforts across multiple healthcare facilities Some of the other aspects discussed to overcome this crisis had been to revert double units to single units (Eg: making two-man stations, one-man stations); expedite the annual transfers of specialists; increase the retirement age; hire skilled experts on a contract basis; look into the possibility of closing down selected under-utilised units; launch a retention plan for specialists; provide ministry-level positive interventions for children’s schooling, transport and accommodation issues; pool services; and set up telemedicine facilities.

The Sunday Times understands that the dire need to identify and prioritise the most critical areas where re-deployment is needed; ensure equity in distributing re-deployed staff across different regions and healthcare facilities; maintain continuity of care for patients by minimising disruptions caused by re-deployment; and provide adequate compensation and incentives to motivate staff to accept re-deployment, had also been discussed. .

The spotlight had been turned on how specialist services are being “badly” affected due to decreased infusion of specialists brought about by a lack of funds to complete comprehensive training; the retirement of skilled experts; the government policy on longterm no-pay leave; and unauthorised migration.