Director-General of Health Services, Dr. Ajith Mendis has ordered a probe into the death of a young Ports Authority engineer, K. M. Upul Kumara, due to alleged medical negligence at the Gampaha General Hospital.

The investigation follows a complaint to Health Ministry Secretary Dr. Athula Kahandaliyanage by the victim’s brother, Dr. Dayanath Ranathunga, a former Medical Officer of Maternal and Child Health in charge of the Kalutara district.

"We are trying to ascertain why this patient was kept for more than three hours at the Gampaha Hospital without transferring him immediately to the Colombo National Hospital", a senior Health Ministry official said.

The Gampaha Hospital authorities could have even hired an ambulance in this emergency situation, if one was not immediately available, he said.

"A top level probe is in progress", he assured. "We are investigating all aspects".

The official said that it would have helped the investigation if Dr. Ranathunga had lodged the complaint before the body was buried. "It came after the funeral was over".

"I don’t see a problem because all the records are available at the hospital", Dr. Ranathunga pointed out. "They can easily get to the bottom of it".

"Can you expect someone who had lost his beloved brother to be complaining to the authorities amidst a family engulfed in grief?", he asked.

"It was a clear case of medical negligence and gross inefficiency on the part of those responsible", he charged.

"As a doctor, I telephoned the Gampaha Hospital many times to ask them to send my brother to Colombo as soon as possible, but they kept him there for more than three hours without proper treatment", he asserted.

"When they finally brought him in an ambulance, it was too late", he cried. "It was not possible to reverse the brain damage he had suffered".

"Upul was my brother and best friend. We shared a close bond from our childhood days -- the time we spent together in the village school and later at university", a grief-stricken Ranathunga recalled.

Upul was the father of a small daughter.

Recounting that fateful day, Dr. Ranathunga said: "On December 8, 2007, Upul tripped on the staircase and fell four steps from the floor. He was holding his daughter, lost balance and knocked his head. He was unconscious and was admitted to the Gampaha Hospital within 10 minutes. He gained consciousness on the way and was subsequently examined by the hospitals' primary care unit.

"Hearing the news, as a doctor myself, I phoned the hospital and informed that my brother had been admitted. I was told that the X-ray seems fine and that there is nothing to be worried about. After some time, my brother had complained of a severe headache. My sister-in-law had informed the staff and a nurse had given a Paracetamol, which he vomited. As a doctor, I am shocked by the simple fact that the vomiting and the headache, as complained by the patient, were not diagnosed as a symptom of internal bleeding in the brain by the qualified medical staff.

"Upul was transferred to a ward and neglected in the primary care unit for a long time. By 4.20 p.m., I came to know that the hospital had decided to transfer him to the Colombo National Hospital (CNH). I went to the CNH and made arrangements to take him to the theatre when the ambulance arrived. In the meantime, the patient's situation had turned critical and he had been given oxygen.

"I was also informed the Gampaha Hospital does not have an ambulance of its own, and it would take about 20 minutes to fetch one from the Divulapitiya Hospital. As it was getting late, I made several phone calls to the hospital between 5 and 5.30 pm, but unfortunately no responsible officer could be contacted. In the meantime, my brother was fighting for his life, still lying on that trolley, unattended at the Gampaha Hospital.

"Finally, I phoned the intern medical officer by 5.45 p.m. and was then told that the ambulance is in place and the documents with respect to the transfer are being processed. By 6.30 p.m., I was connected to the primary care unit. It was answered by a medical officer pursuing postgraduate study. I was again shocked to hear that my brother had been taken to the ambulance, but taken back to the primary care unit to instal an artificial breathing tube (ET Tube).

"It is questionable as to why they could not install this tube inside the ambulance itself while it was mobile. Anyhow, I assumed that they would have made a Burr Hole (small hole in the skull) to release pressure in the brain emanating due to bleeding.

"Even by 6.30 pm, I was informed by my brother's friend who was beside him, that the patient was ready in the ambulance to be transferred, but delays were caused due to nurses shift changes and the waiting time for another nurse to get dressed. I tried to contact the matron, but failed. Finally, after a delay of half an hour, the nurse was ready. The ambulance finally left the Gampaha by 7.10 p.m. and reached Colombo by 8 p.m.

"It was after three hours and thirty minutes that the patient was transferred to Colombo. During this period, the only action taken by the so-called medical practitioners was to install an ET tube, to a patient who had a severe internal bleeding in the brain. This was how my brother's half dead body was brought to the Colombo National Hospital.

"The patient was immediately taken for surgery by the Colombo hospital staff, and the operation completed within two hours. The doctors informed that there was a lot of blood in the brain, and the pressure had damaged some parts. Despite every effort by the hospital staff of Ward No. 9, of the neurosurgical unit, my brother died after five days.