Psychiatric patient stabs person at Selayang Hospital

A patient awaiting treatment at the Selayang Hospital emergency department was stabbed by another patient suffering from psychiatric problems yesterday.

Health Ministry director-general Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah confirmed the incident and said the assailant was brought into the hospital by the police.

“The stabbing was committed by a psychiatric patient brought in by the police. It can happen anywhere.

“We need to safeguard our patients in the emergency department and our clinics. We have to review our SOP for patients with psychiatric disorders,” wrote Noor Hisham on Twitter.

He was responding to an article by Singapore’s Straits Times which first reported about the incident and suggested that the assailant became violent after a long wait to be admitted.

The report claimed that all the wards in the hospital were full at the time while “dozens” waited for their turn at the emergency department.

A check on KKMNow - the Health Ministry’s open data website - suggested that Selayang Hospital’s bed utilisation was 69.6 percent last night.

The Selayang Hospital has a department of psychiatry and mental health.

According to the Straits Times, the victim was stabbed three times - once in the back and twice in the abdomen.

Meanwhile, Health Minister Dr Zaliha Mustafa said she visited the hospital last night after the Dewan Rakyat meeting to meet the victim’s family and the team treating the victim.

“The victim’s status will be reported to the family periodically. The matter is being investigated by the authorities,” she said. - Mkini