Clinical Excellence

In line with our strategic priorities, clinical excellence remains an evolving endeavour for Nawaloka Hospitals PLC. We pivot our clinical excellence roadmap on a culture of learning, agility, and innovation. Our approach to care delivery integrates technology, multidisciplinary expertise, and evidence-based protocols that elevate both patient outcomes and operational efficiency.

Integrated Clinical Protocols

As we strive to consistently enhance patient care outcomes, we proactively establish the synergy between advanced technology and clinical expertise. As such, we blend cutting-edge tools with a deeply connected, intelligent ecosystem to enable purposeful care decisions, optimised diagnostics, and faster treatment cycles. To facilitate this integration, we blend AI-assisted diagnostics, real-time lab analytics, and Electronic Health Record-supported decisions into a unified clinical protocol framework. This allows us to achieve enhanced accuracy, reduced errors, and more accurate, patient-centred outcomes.

The illustration below depicts how our clinical ecosystem operates:

Meanwhile, our Integrated Care Ecosystem incorporates a nationwide laboratory and mini-medical centre network, which facilitates continuity of care and diagnostic support throughout the country.

Protocol Evolution

Well-structured pilot programmes guide each new clinical tool that we adopt, followed by rigorous outcome assessments. We have witnessed measurable improvements in our patient care, in particular cardiology and post-surgical care. In 2024, Nawaloka Hospitals PLC maintained a 30-day readmission rate under 6%, well below global benchmarks. Innovations such as tele-follow-ups, enhanced discharge protocols, and dedicated care pathways for chronic conditions supported this positive outcome.

Meanwhile, we rely on incident reporting portals, multidisciplinary safety reviews, and root cause analysis protocols to feed learnings from every clinical episode into system-wide improvements. This has contributed to zero serious reportable events during the review period.

Nawaloka Hospitals PLC sustains clinical excellence through continuous learning and agile response.

Centres of Clinical Expertise

Nawaloka Hospitals PLC operates specialised centres or clinical hubs to provide focused, high impact care. These centres allow us to provide precise, compassionate and advanced medical care. Our clinical leadership, multidisciplinary expertise, and a continuous commitment to innovation facilitate the intentional delivery of patient care through the specialised hubs. Collectively, they position Nawaloka Hospitals as a national leader in delivering specialty-driven, outcomes-based healthcare.

Heart Centre

AI Powered Radiology Suite

Bone Marrow Transplant Unit

Fertility Centre

Dialysis Unit

Laparoscopic and Endoscopic Surgical Suites

Sleep Study Unit

Maternity Unit

Cosmetic Centre

Physiotherapy Department

Diagnostic Centre

Home Nursing Services

The Nawaloka Hospitals Research & Education Foundation (NHREF)

Our research arm drives innovation in healthcare through advanced research and medical education. As part of Nawaloka Hospitals PLC, Sri Lanka’s largest private healthcare provider, NHREF bridges research, clinical practice, and professional development to advance medical excellence. The foundation supports medical innovation by conducting and facilitating research studies, collaborating with leading institutions, and publishing findings to expand clinical knowledge and improve patient care. NHREF also delivers high-quality medical training through Grand Ward Rounds led by experienced doctors, specialised courses for healthcare professionals, and workshops and seminars that promote continuous professional development.

Specialised Paediatric Blood Collection

Nawaloka Hospitals PLC offers a world-class paediatric blood collection service designed to combine clinical accuracy with compassionate care. Our specialised cubicle provides a calm, supportive environment, while every sample is collected by trained paediatric phlebotomists following international best practices. Comfort positioning, distraction tools, topical numbing, and child-friendly communication ensure a positive experience for young patients. Strict aseptic techniques, single-use equipment, and precise labeling safeguard accuracy and safety. This comprehensive and clinically precise combination delivers results that parents can trust while supporting the well-being of both children and their families.

Advanced Laser Hemorrhoid Surgery

In 2024, we introduced advanced laser hemorrhoid surgery, offering a minimally invasive alternative to conventional procedures. Our skilled surgical team performs this procedure, while the advanced technology used ensure precise tissue targeting, pain and bleeding reduction, and recovery time. Most patients resume normal activities within days, benefiting from our state-of-the-art theatres, advanced diagnostics, and personalised care. This addition strengthens our position as a leader in adopting world-class medical innovations and delivering precise, patient-focused treatment.

Patient Safety and Risk Management

Our calculated efforts to integrate safety into every touchpoint of care from clinical protocols to infrastructure design culminated in a robust safety framework. This system is formed on a foundation of global best practices ISO 9001:2015 and WHO surgical safety check-lists, coupled with vigilance and accountability.

The Hospital manages incidents through the application of a systematic 24/7 incident reporting portal followed by root cause analysis, monthly multidisciplinary safety reviews, and the implementation of corrective and preventive actions. These processes are overseen by the Quality and Accreditation Department (QAD).

Infection Control

Nawaloka’s infection prevention protocols are embedded not only in practice but also in Hospital architecture and design. The below illustration presents the key aspects of our infection control process:

Digital Systems for Safety and Continuity

Our Unique Patient ID System, integrated into the Electronic Health Record (EHR) platform, ensures end-to-end traceability, data integrity and confidentiality. The system facilitates the reduction of errors and duplication to support accurate diagnosis, seamless care coordination, and predictive analytics for clinical decision-making.

Additionally, we have implemented robust protocols in place to ensure both physical and digital safety. Patient data is protected through stringent security measures while only authorised personnel can access the information. The Hospital’s robust cybersecurity protocols and vigilant monitoring systems ensure full compliance with ethical, legal, and operational standards (ISO 9001:2015 and internal cybersecurity standards) related to patient data security.

We conduct periodic IT audits, train staff and rely on intrusion detection tools to further enhance system integrity and patient confidentiality.

In the year 2024-25, Nawaloka Hospitals PLC reported zero data breaches.

Digitally Enabled Care

Our commitment to clinical excellence and patient care is increasingly becoming reliant on digital innovation. As such, we continue to integrate artificial intelligence and electronic medical records to Improve our patient care approach through increased connectivity, accuracy, patient satisfaction, and operational agility.

In this context, our AI-powered Radiology Suite (the first of its kind in South Asia) represent our prowess in diagnostic medicine. This advanced system offers automated scan interpretation, aiding radiologists in rapidly identifying abnormalities with higher precision. Fully integrated with our Electronic Health Record (EHR) platform, it provides real-time diagnostic support, reducing turnaround times, especially for high-volume CT and MRI scans. In-built quality assurance flags further enhance patient safety by alerting consultants to potential discrepancies or overlooked findings. This system allows the Hospital to reach clinical decisions (across specialties) faster in a more accurate manner, through combining machine intelligence with clinical oversight.

The “Medtech Integration” chapter of this Report provides a detailed outlook on how we integrate innovation and digital platforms into patient care and clinical excellence.

Patient Satisfaction

We consider patient satisfaction to be a critical benchmark of the success of our clinical effectiveness and service quality. Aiming to uphold our promise of compassionate, responsive care, we have developed a multi-modal feedback ecosystem that enables real-time insight into the patient experience across every touchpoint.

We employ feedback mechanisms such as digital surveys, QR code-enabled real-time inputs, physical comment forms, email and phone responses, and Google review tracking. The Hospital complements these with consultant-level evaluations and follow-up calls post-discharge. Additionally, our Quality and Accreditation Department (QAD) continuously analyses this input to identify service gaps, inform staff training, and implement targeted improvements.

Performance Highlights for 2024-25

Overall satisfaction score averaged

4.3 out of 5

Approximately 88%

of surveyed patients stated they would recommend Nawaloka Hospitals to others

Average Emergency Treatment Unit (ETU) wait time:

Non-peak hours – 10 minutes

High-traffic periods – 12-15 minutes

CONSISTENTLY WELL-RATED TOUCHPOINTS

Staff courtesy

Laboratory services

Radiology turnaround times

OPD wait times

Post-discharge communication

PATIENT-IDENTIFIED AREAS FOR GROWTH

The efficiency improvements, in particularly in the Emergency Treatment Unit (ETU), stemmed from the strategic combination of experienced triage team, priority queuing for critical cases, digital integration via the NawalokaCare app, and infrastructure enhancements.

Future Outlook

As we move forward, Nawaloka Hospitals PLC remains committed to advancing our clinical excellence framework through continuous innovation, outcome-driven care models, and a patient-first approach. Our strategic focus will remain on enhancing integrated care delivery, strengthening specialised clinical hubs, and accelerating the use of digital platforms to streamline diagnostics and treatment pathways.

Moreover, we are prioritising process redesign and targeted staffing reinforcements to enhance responsiveness. We will continue to align with international safety benchmarks, ensuring a zero-harm environment through rigorous risk management and clinical audit systems.