PETALING JAYA: More funding needs to be injected into the public healthcare system as overcrowding at existing facilities has taken a toll on its resources, says Health director-general Datuk Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah.
"We are currently underfunded, understaffed, underpaid, overworked, overstretched and with facilities overcrowded with patients," he said on his Facebook page.
He said this in response to the Auditor-General's report, which stated that 41.3% of patients had to wait six hours at emergency units because of the lack of facilities, a low budget and personnel shortage.
The 145 hospitals nationwide cater to eight million patients annually.
"We all need to try harder to improve the public healthcare system to increase funding, to increase the number of healthcare workers, to improve the salary scale and availability of job posts in our health facilities; all of which are beyond the control of the Health Ministry.
"I believe when there is a will there is always a way," he said.
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