Klang hospital reminds staff against sharing photos on social media

The embattled Tengku Ampuan Rahimah Hospital (HTAR) in Klang has warned its staff against sharing photos and videos from around the hospital on social media.

It cited a longstanding rule against civil servants making public statements without authorisation.

“If there is sufficient proof showing a Health Ministry civil servant has violated this rule, disciplinary action, including dismissal, can be taken for breaking the rule and affecting the civil service’s image,” HTAR director Dr Zulkarnain Mohd Rawi said in a memorandum dated yesterday.

The memorandum sighted by Malaysiakini is addressed to all department and unit heads at the hospital, instructing them to relay the matter to their subordinates.

This came after photos and videos emerged on social media in recent weeks, showing the hospital’s deteriorating situation as hospitals throughout the Klang Valley struggle to cope with the rising number of Covid-19 patients.

This includes pictures circulated last week showing Covid-19 patients placed on canvas beds outside HTAR’s Emergency and Trauma Department.

Some frontliners - including those who claimed to be treating Covid-19 patients at HTAR - have also anonymously shared their accounts of what transpired at Klang Valley hospitals during public events.

Allegations have also surfaced on social media claiming that HTAR’s Dmergency Department had been vacated to make way for Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin’s visit on Tuesday.

For the record, Zulkarnain had denied this allegation, saying that the move was part of its disaster management plan that saw patients moved to the hospital’s Ambulatory Care Complex, which had been converted into a Covid-19 ward.

Meanwhile, in his memorandum, Zulkarnain said recent photos and videos of the hospital shared on social media platforms had caused public anxiety and it tarnished the government’s image, “as though the government is not performing its duty”.

He said such sharing is becoming more rampant now that HTAR is drawing more public attention due to the increasing number of Covid-19 patients at the hospital.

For the record, the government has announced a slew of assistance to help Klang Valley hospitals cope with the rising number of Covid-19 cases.

Among others, Health Minister Dr Adham Baba said on July 8 that HTAR would get RM1.1 million worth of supplies, including 50 beds and additional equipment, as well as a field hospital with 50 beds.

During Muhyiddin’s visit, the prime minister said the hospital would get 151 additional beds bringing the total beds at the hospital to 606, and another 15 ventilators.

The hospital also now has four refrigerated containers to be used as temporary morgues, while medical personnel are being mobilised from other states to help with the Covid-19 situation in the Klang Valley. - Mkini