The National Hospital of Sri Lanka (NHSL)

The NHSL is the premier teaching hospital and the tertiary care facilitity in the country. Established in 1864 by the British Colonial Government, this has since expanded into a 2750-bed hospital (6% of the total number of beds in the national health sector) providing a wide spectrum of services. The hospital is funded by the Ministry of Health. All services are rendered free of charge. The NHSL, located on a 30-acre block of land, in close approximity to the Medical Faculty, employes a staff of nearly 5000 including 80 Consultant staff and over 500 doctors.

Along with the DeSoysa Maternity Hospital, Castle Street Hospital for Women, Lady Ridgeway Hospital for Children, Institute of Cardiology and the Eye Hospital, the NHSL function as the main teaching facility for the Medical Faculty. The Departments of Medicine and Surgery have their clinical teaching units on the hospital premises.

Services

Services offered include Accident and Emergency Care, Rheumatology and Rehabilitation, Cardiothoracic Surgery, Neurosurgery, Haemodialysis, Oto-Rhino-Larngology, Plastic Surgery, Angioplasty, Coronary Artery Bypass surgery (CABG), Imaging and Intervention Radiology and Intensive Care.

The Medical Faculty maintains an active renal transplant program, a renal biopsy service and transplantation counselling sessions, gastro-intestinal endoscopy, vascular and laparoscopic surgery and a National Poisons Information Centre in the NHSL.

Some Monthly Statistics (1996)

Historical information

• Ceylon Medical Journal 1991; 36: p27-32
• Ceylon Medical Journal 1991; 36: p79-82
• Ceylon Medical Journal 1992; 37: p29-34

Useful information