Every mission has been more challenging than the preceding one. The host surgeon had managed to clear some of them and reserve difficult cases for the attention of the Guy’s team. We stopped for half a day on 13th October 2009, to accommodate the Prime Minister’s visit to the hospital followed by a reception held at our hotel, as the PM thought it was an achievement worthy of commendation. Praise to our host surgeon Dr Namal Gamage for carrying out nearly 40% of the country’s heart operations on his own (this includes paediatric cases as well), whilst Colombo and Kandy hospitals with larger number of surgeons and nurses had carried out the balance 60%.

On the whole this year was more difficult for me. I had to cope with the planning of the reception, invitations to the Prime Minister, Health Minister, Health Secretary, British High Commissioner, co-ordinating with various security personnel, then having to reschedule everything around the PM’s availability. We also produced a souvenir brochure for the event with the help of CADA Design Group and JF&I.