Every hospital in Klang Valley faces a severe shortage of medical staff, ambulance, medical equipment, ICU facilities, beds etc.
I raised this issue to the Health Minister at the parliament yesterday; however, the minister just promised to have an impromptu walkabout at hospitals.
The promise is not enough, and we are racing against time as our public health system will collapse anytime soon.
Let me tell you why.
With a combination of the high admission rate of Covid-19 patients and low staffing mobilization and medical equipment, the hospital is like a living hell for both patients and frontliners.
A friends mother in law who was infected and sent to HTAR, sat outside the Emergency Department for three days without receiving any medical care. She passed away the following day despite being provided with ventilator support.
This is not the only case that happened, many cases are underreported. The patients have to take turns and share the ventilators and oxygen tanks.
I have received two tweets, saying that their family members were not given any dinner a few days ago. “My brother is currently in quarantine for covid positive at HTAR. Yesterday no dinner was served for all patients at his zone”, he said.
Also, the frontliners are overwhelmed. They need to work for 12 to 14 hours a day, and the workload is increasing every day with the rise of positive cases.
Take a real example that happens in HTAR. Three medical assistants are assigned to take care of as many as two hundred people a day. In other words, an MA needs to complete a patient’s primary care within 15 minutes. This is absolutely inhumane.
The government promised to transfer more medical personnel from other states to support HTAR. But, unfortunately, the promise is not fulfilled.
Although many wards have been opened, the staff shortage in HTAR is still a significant issue, and it is getting worse and chaotically out of control.
Third, a lack of adequate medical equipment, including oxygen, ventilator etc is a cause of high level of death.
What do these examples tell? The hospital is in a state of emergency, and the government has failed to protect its people.
I urge the Minister to urgently allocate RM20 million for each hospital in Klang Valley, including Hospital Tengku Ampuan Rahimah (HTAR) to expand ICU facilities and buy more ventilators and oxygen tanks.
We also need the government to be responsive, mobilize and increase the number of medical staff IMMEDIATELY. This includes doctors, nurses, medical assistants, etc.
Also, I request the MOH to transfer or dismiss hospital directors who have failed to administer efficiently in this critical time.
If Perikatan Nasional is calling themselves ‘Kerajaan Prihatin’, it is the time for them to show their political will to support the frontliners and save the lives of rakyat.