National Hospital Galle

I’m travelling through Sri Lanka for the first time, had an accident in Hikkadua on February 16th. Was body surfing and got flipped over by a huge wave and landed on my head. When I got up to walk to the shore, I collapsed and got brought to safety by a Russian couple. After being placed on a sun lounger for 30 mins, an ambulance took me to a government hospital. I was treated very badly, laughed at and my injuries were not taken seriously. Incompetent staff, unprofessional doctors and medical staff were disgraceful. My valuables were stolen whilst there and nobody cared or came to investigate. I was informed that thieves operated there regularly. If that’s the case, why wasn’t I notified? Staff mocked me when I asked for medication and they were very racist. I couldn’t speak the local language, being mixed race and British I was treated like vermin. Staff should be ashamed of themselves. I was offered no food, water, or even washed down. I was covered in sand. Two days passed, when two Danish students saw I was neglected and came to my rescue. Toilets had no running water, blood in the sink, smashed glass on the floor and stank! You had no privacy, dignity and the wards were filthy. I’ve seen better farm yards. Patients who suffer from schizophrenia are put in wards so other patients lay awake all night! It’s absolutely disgraceful and poorly managed. Staff sleep there as they’re overworked and understaffed. I was pulled and pushed around by unqualified staff like a piece of meat at a butchers. I left there at 05:25 four days later, walked past security and never even checked out. My blood pressure was taken on that morning and it was very very high. I thought they were trying to kill me. I’ve since written to the Minister of Health in Sri Lanka, The Daily Mirror and British Embassy.

There is a staff that has no human qualities, a group of people on night duty who do not care about the patient when they come with a patient, and there are some good people among them. We know that the people who serve are human beings, but yes, they must be dedicated to their duty, that is their refusal.

I would like to express my heartfelt gratitude to the kind lady doctor, nurses, and all the staff at Ward 8 for the excellent care and support I received today.(31.03.2026) I had two wisdom teeth removed through a minor surgery, and as someone who is usually very anxious and afraid of medical procedures, I was quite nervous. However, the way you all treated me—with kindness, patience, and reassurance—truly made a huge difference. You helped ease my fears and made the entire experience much more comfortable than I ever expected. Thank you for your compassion, professionalism, and dedication. I deeply appreciate the care you provided and will always remember your kindness. Wasana Dilukshi

The day before yesterday, I had to rush my mom to the hospital because she was in straight-up agony. She was screaming in pain, but when we got to Karapitiya Hospital, the nurses didn't give a damn. They were just chilling under the fan, scrolling on their phones like nothing was happening. It wasn’t even just my mom—there were elderly people there who were seriously sick and needed help ASAP, but the staff didn't care about anyone. Patients were stuck sitting on broken wooden chairs outside the ward. Get this: people who weren't even that sick had beds, but they told us they were full. My mom sat there for four hours and not one doctor came to check her out. They were too busy gossiping with the nurses to even look at the patients. There were even dirty stray dogs wandering around the ward! I’m not hating on animals, but sick, dirty dogs shouldn't be roaming around a place where people are trying to get treated. Since they wouldn't even give my mom a bed to lie down on, she finally said, "Take me home, I’d rather lie on my own bed." But when she told the nurse she wanted to leave, the nurse started yelling at us. Like, excuse me? Now you suddenly care? Then she forced us to sign a letter saying we were leaving "against medical advice." What medical advice? Not a single doctor even spoke to us!

Suffered a heat stroke and hyper tention. Required an ambulance and without knowledge of the hospital, I went there and guided by my friends (the real life savers). After thinking of this day, it was like a gulag. Death row. No one cared and my friends were frantic looking for clarity on my behalf. Staff stood and ignored my requests (including the iv drip which i had to shout at them for and almost suffered another round of hyper tention) laughed and bickered at me while I was in and out of controlling my breathing. They took me off my bed in an hour (while disoriented and visibly not ready - rejecting our request to stay) and when I could barley move and paused for breaths, ushered me to hurry up and sit down in a broken wheel chair. I was pushed into a corridor in 30 degree heat, a nurse took my IV drip and tried to get me off the wheel chair. My friends argued my case as I could barley stand and breath at the same time. Imagine putting a sun stroke victim back in the sun and taking away their only source of hydration. That next hour getting to a better hospital almost killed me. No shops sold anything cold and the hospital had no ice. Ruhunu Hospital is 5 minutes from National. Go there