Extra hall to be opened at MAEPS treatment centre

 

Quarantine patients at the MAEPS low-risk treatment centre have complained about the food, toilets, temperatures and congestion. (Twitter pic)

PETALING JAYA: An extra hall is to be opened at the low-risk quarantine and treatment centre at the Malaysia Agro Exposition Park Serdang, which has come under criticism for congestion and poor treatment of quarantine patients.

In response to an FMT report earlier today, the centre’s director, Dr Shahabuddin Ibrahim, said capacity was being increased to accommodate more patients. The centre currently holds 5,869 beds.

He said the extra hall was being opened “to increase the comfort of patients undergoing treatment.

A total of 3,454 patients, 80% of them Malaysians, were currently housed at MAEPS, he said in a statement.

FMT reported today that Covid-19 patients at MAEPS had complained of having to wait for six hours for a bed, fought freezing temperatures in the hall and waited in long lines for treatment and food.

On the delay of patient placement, Shahabuddin said it was due to the number of patient admissions with an average of about 600 people a day, while the daily number of patients had reached 1,800.

He also said patients admitted to MAEPS had to go through a health assessment to ensure the quality of health services provided were based on the category of treatment according to symptoms, especially for category 3 patients.

“In addition to asking for their health history, patients need to undergo physical and other health examinations such as ultrasound, lung x-rays and blood tests. It takes time when it involves a large number of patients.

“During the month of Ramadan, this process had to be stopped temporarily to provide comfort to patients and staff breaking fast and to complete their prayers,” he said.

Regarding the temperature of the hall which was said to be too cold, he said, the matter would be resolved by setting the standard temperature to 22-24 degrees Celsius including continuous monitoring.

Responding to the issue of toilet cleanliness raised by patients, Shahabuddin said cleaning work had been done four times a day but the condition of the toilets was still dirty because of the uncleanliness of some patients.

He said the centre conducted a survey among patients and found that 75% of respondents were satisfied with the level of cleanliness of toilets provided and 91% of patients were satisfied with the level of cleanliness of the hall,” he said.

Regarding the delay in food distribution, Shahabuddin said the matter was resolved by providing a ‘food truck’ for free until 10pm to accommodate the number of new patients.

“After 10pm, food for the admission of new patients is covered with the preparation of ‘dry ration’ consisting of bread, rice, biscuits, mineral water and bottled water for each patient,” he said.

Shahabuddin also admitted that the process of distributing food to patients was very challenging, but added that priority was still given to the elderly and children as well as patients with certain diets.

“Although the distribution process caused other patients to wait, the centre always ensured that the distribution of food to all patients was completed within two hours,” he said. - FMT