Rightways: Health systems on the brink of collapse, says DG

Saturday, 10 July 2021

Health systems on the brink of collapse, says DG

Patients lying on stretchers outside the emergency department of the Hospital Tengku Ampuan

Rahimah in Klang because there is no place for them inside.

PETALING JAYA: The health system in Kuala Lumpur, Selangor, Negeri Sembilan and Labuan will soon be paralysed unless there is a reduction in daily Covid-19 case numbers, warns health director-general Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah.

In a statement on his Facebook page, Noor Hisham said that to date, the two states and federal territories have shown an increase in new daily cases which exceed the maximum capacity of hospitals there.

He also expressed concern about the trend of Covid-19 cases being admitted to intensive care units (ICU), saying that the ICU bed capacity nationwide is now over 90%.

“The number of new daily cases being reported shows no sign of reduction, and instead, had increased by an average of 2.6% over the last seven days,” Noor Hisham said.

“If this goes on, the health systems in these two states and federal territories will be paralysed,” he said.

Noor Hisham said that among the steps the health ministry has taken to address this is by dedicating several hospitals in the Klang Valley solely to treat Covid-19 patients – Hospital Ampang, Hospital Sungai Buloh and the Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia’s Specialist Children’s Hospital (HPKK UKM).

It is also considering using Hospital Shah Alam to treat Covid-19 cases and has proposed that this be allowed at the Universiti Putra Malaysia Teaching Hospital (HUPM) and Hospital Universiti Teknologi Mara (UiTM

Apart from further increasing the bed capacity at Hospital Kuala Lumpur (HKL), Hospital Selayang and Tengku Ampuan Rahimah Hospital (HTAR) in Klang to be used as treatment centres for Category 4 and 5 patients, Noor Hisham said that the health ministry is also transferring non-Covid-19 patients to private hospitals – especially around HKL and HTAR.

Noor Hisham’s statement comes just hours after Klang MP Charles Santiago highlighted the scarcity of beds at HTAR, where Covid-19 patients were “parked” outside the emergency department due to a lack of beds inside.

Last week, social media was abuzz with photos of doctors in Hospital Kuala Lumpur (HKL) performing procedures and cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) on the floor as the hospital’s capacity was stretched beyond its limit.

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