Volunteers told not to bring Covid-19 patients to 'full' hospital, claims rep

 

Seri Kembangan assemblyperson Ean Yong Hian Wah has urged Health Minister Dr Adham Baba to explain the situation at Serdang Hospital after its ambulance service supposedly refused to transport a Covid-19 patient suffering breathing difficulties.

Moreover, after volunteers brought a Covid-19 patient to the hospital yesterday, he claimed that the staff there told them not to bring any more patients because there were not enough beds at the hospital.

“This is shocking for us all because Serdang Hospital is not only facing a shortage of ambulatory services, but its capacity to treat Covid-19 patients is also falling short. I’m convinced this is not just happening at Serdang Hospital, but also other hospitals in the Klang Valley.

“The Covid-19 pandemic has gone on for nearly two years, yet the inept Perikatan Nasional government prioritised politicking and failed plan, until our country’s health infrastructure is now at a critical level.

“This not only affects the safety of Covid-19 patients but also that of other patients. In the end, the quality of the rakyat’s health is neglected,” Yong said.

He said his service centre has modified a van to transport Covid-19 patients to the hospital after receiving numerous complaints about patients being refused ambulatory services in the last few months.

“It is very disappointing when volunteers reached the emergency counter at Serdang Hospital with a Covid-19 patient yesterday, hospital staff told us not to bring any more Covid-19 patients there because there are not enough beds,” he added.

In another incident, he said a woman at Taman Bukit Serdang reported breathing difficulties at around 6am today and called for an ambulance. She lives with two children after her father and husband were each hospitalised or placed at a quarantine centre.

He claimed an operator at Serdang Hospital told her that no ambulances were available and she should come to the hospital herself.

“This is no small issue, and has been a recurring problem since last year. It shows the failure of our nation’s healthcare system,” he added.

Malaysiakini has contacted Selangor health director Dr Sha'ari Ngadiman, Serdang Hospital director Dr Rohana Johan, and Health Ministry director-general Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah for a response on the issue.

According to a weekly report from the National Institutes of Health, there were 11,642 government hospital beds for Covid-19 patients last week including suspected cases, of which an average of 7,913 (68 percent) was occupied. This is a five percentage point drop compared to a week earlier.

However, intensive care unit (ICU) utilisation is still high with 85 percent of the 1,788 available beds being used, despite a two percentage point drop compared to the week before.

The situation is somewhat better at private hospitals, with only 475 out of 1,276 available beds (37 percent) being occupied, and 50 out of 128 (39 percent) ICU beds.

There has been no recent report on the bed occupancy rates at individual hospitals. - Mkini