A team from the Directorate of Healthcare Quality and Safety visited Base Hospital Walasmulla and the RDHS Office Matara on 2nd of June 2023. The study team included the Deputy Director Dr. Dewanee Ranaweera, Consultant Community Physicians, Medical Officers, Development Officers and junior staff members.
Visit to BH Walasmulla
The DHQS team first visited the Base Hospital Walasmulla. The team was warmly welcomed by the Medical Superintendent Dr. Ranga Chandrasena and his staff. A PowerPoint presentation was done by Dr. Chandrasena, explaining the history of the hospital and how it has progressed to its current status since. The support received by the hospital from donors in the area was emphasized during his presentation. He also mentioned some of the best practices at the hospital in his presentation, which was a good guide for the visit to follow. The Deputy Director DHQS praised Dr. Chandrasena and the hospital team for the impressive work done by them.
The DHQS divided into two groups and observed the different settings of the hospital. They were able to witness many quality initiatives and best practices that were followed in the hospital.
The activities of the Quality Management Unit of the hospital were observed in detail. The Kaizen initiatives and best practices carried out at the hospital were explained, and the reports of the activities done by the WIT Teams were shown. The incident reporting mechanism at the hospital was explained and the reports filed were shown.
The digitalized system at the Out-patient Department (OPD) was explained and shown. It was functioning very well and was saving a lot of time and effort for the staff and the patients alike.
The other areas of the hospitals including the IPC Unit, newly developed ICU, laboratories, wards of different specialties, ward for the clergy, dispensary, stores, record room, waste collection area, CSSD, office and the maintenance unit, were observed.
The green initiatives and energy saving initiatives implemented at the hospital were appreciative. A fire safety plan was available at the hospital.
Some of the 5S and kaizen initiatives implemented were preparation of a reusable sharps bin, preparation of bags for collecting investigation reports, colour coding system at the drug stores, proper labelling of drugs at the dispensary, wards and ICU, and instillation of directional boards.
Visit to the Regional Director of Health Services Office - Matara
The DHQS team visited the RDHS Office Matara after that. The Deputy RDHS Dr. H. L. S. Chathurika, Quality Medical Officer Dr. Chamila and the team at the RDHS Office welcomed the DHQS team warmly. A series of presentations were done representing their respective units of the RDHS Office, by the MO/ MCH, Regional Epidemiologist, Quality Medical Officer, MO/ Mental Health, MO/ Planning, Accountant, ICT Officer and many other officers, explaining the valuable work done by them during the recent years. The work carried out was much appreciated by the DHQS team. Due to the time constraints, it was not possible to observe all the good practices and initiatives by visiting each unit specifically. The shared initiatives taken towards developing the information management systems and using of the resources efficiently were all appreciative.
