We can have the ICU wards, but who’s going to man them?

 

The number of patients needing ventilators in ICU wards has doubled since November and there is an acute lack of health personnel to care for them. (AP pic)

PUTRAJAYA: The health ministry, which is already opening up more intensive care units every week, has the capacity to create more such wards if the number of patients continue to rise.

The problem is: there is an acute lack of manpower to maintain these additional ICUs.

Helth director-general Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah pointed out that the number of patients in ICUs and relying on ventilators has nearly doubled compared to mid-November, with 197 in intensive care as of today, of which 79 require respiratory assistance.

“Hospital Sungai Buloh, for example, is at full capacity. But it still can increase the number of ICU beds from the current 60 to 110. But we need the manpower first,” he said in his daily press briefing today.

“The Public Service Department is helping by offering more positions to nurses and others, so we are in the process of recruiting more manpower.

Noor Hisham expressed concern about other hospitals taking in patients with the virus because it could lead to non-Covid-19 patients being neglected, but hoped that the movement control order (MCO) could reduce the number of patients.

He also said the health ministry would be meeting private hospital officials tomorrow to discuss how a public-private collaboration could be worked out to address the increasing number of patients in the Klang Valley.

He said the ministry was also looking at options to reduce the patient load in Covid-19 hospitals and low-risk treatment centres, including by using hotels and hostels to house and treat patients.

He cited an example of how an employer in Negeri Sembilan housed Covid-positive workers in two hotels identified by the health ministry for their treatment.

“Around 85% of cases are Level 1 and 2, which means they are asymptomatic and mild. One solution is to maintain low-risk centres mainly for certain groups that can be treated there,” he said.

Noor Hisham said the ministry would be determining the risk factors before treating Level 1 and 2 Covid-19 patients at home, taking into account elements such as the size of the house and high-risk individuals in the same household. - FMT