Four hospitals face a shortage of ambulances and it is feared that would affect their emergency services, the Auditor-General said in his report yesterday.
It said the number of existing ambulances was also not enough to cover operations and this was aggravated by a lack of proper maintenance.
The audit found Seri Manjung Hospital was short of nine ambulances, Serdang Hospital 18, Sultanah Nur Zahirah Hospital 11 and Sarawak General Hospital 16.
Based on records at the Medical Development Division, Ministry of Health Malaysia, from 2010 till August 2012, 124 ambulances were involved in road accidents resulting in 44 deaths.
The audit found that as of December last year, 34 cases of accidents involving ambulances incurred repair costs exceeding RM410,000, which was borne by the ministry.
Nonetheless, it said police had yet to complete investigations in some cases with delays stretching from 147 to 1,079 days, whereas periodic maintenance of the ambulances by the companies given the concessions was delayed between 20 and 118 days.
According to the report, the ministry's estimated expenditure on ambulance maintenance for its hospitals by the concessionaires - Faber Medi-Serve, Pantai Medivest and Radicare - was RM64.17 million for the period 2010 to 2012. - Bernama
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