More exclusive Covid-19 hospitals needed, says Private Hospitals Association

PETALING JAYA: The government needs to create more exclusive Covid-19 hospitals like the Sungai Buloh Hospital to cater to the increasing number of patients, says Datuk Dr Kuljit Singh.

The Association of Private Hospitals Malaysia (APHM) president said it can be done by decanting non-Covid-19 patients to private hospitals for treatment, freeing up beds at public hospitals to specifically treat Covid-19 patients.

“This is the most practical and workable solution and there will be a significant impact in easing out more beds for Covid-19 patients.

“We can look after the non-Covid-19 patients from public hospitals. This will give more capacity for public hospitals to treat Covid-19 patients, ” he said here on Saturday (May 22).

In other non-Covid-19 public hospitals, he said there are still such elective patients taking up beds that can be utilised for those inflicted with the coronavirus.

However, Dr Kuljit said government hospital doctors do not “seem to buy-in” the calls to transfer non-Covid-19 patients over despite an updated circular by the Health Ministry allowing government hospitals to do so.

Dr Kuljit was asked to comment on a call made by Health director-general Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah on Thursday (May 20) for private hospitals to increase their beds in wards and intensive care units to treat Covid-19 patients.

While private hospitals with bigger capacity in the Klang Valley would try to increase their capacity to accept few more Covid-19 patients, he said private hospitals are limited in several ways to make enough space to make the difference.

“We have capacity issues in terms of space to isolate infectious patients. Capability wise, a team is needed to look after Covid-19 patients particularly those in Category 3 and 4, and essentially in Category 5.

“It’s not just creating beds for these patients but the requirement of having a complete team of nurses, house officers and medical officers.

“Unlike in public hospitals, the private hospitals would have just that few specialists, such as respiratory physicians, internal medicine specialists and anesthesiologists who are trained to look after such patients.

“We could help supply other support like equipment and manpower wherever applicable to ease fatigue in public hospitals. However, we may not have large numbers of staff trained in intensive care, ” he said.

In Dr Noor Hisham’s letter, Dr Kuljit said it also mentioned that the capability and capacity of private hospitals must be taken into account without compromising the quality of patient care.

“This is a piece of important advice by the DG that we must take into view, ” he added.

To help to ease the intensive care units in public hospitals, Dr Kuljit said something can be worked out in private hospitals treating selected step down and non-infective Covid-19 patients from public hospitals.

“It is possible but more discussion is required to understand the long-term care that may be needed for some cases. This still needs discussion, ” he said.

Explaining further, Dr Kuljit said private hospitals can take over, on a case-to-case basis, when a Covid-19 patient has been treated and completed the acute care and is no longer infective.

“For example, a Category 4 or 5 patient who has recovered, is stable and need not be on a ventilator can be transferred to a private hospital for further treatment.

“Some post-Covid-19 patients may need weeks and months of hospital treatment due to lung condition and other organ damage.

“We can take over such cases but on a case-to-case basis.

“Again, it has to be evaluated, as some may require long-term treatment, ” he said, adding that these treatments may be costly and the government may find it hard to fund.

In a letter dated May 20 to the private hospitals, Dr Noor Hisham said the Health Ministry needed the cooperation of private hospitals following an increase in the number of Covid-19 patients.

"All private hospitals currently treating Covid-19 patients must increase more beds to treat these patients. This involves more beds in the wards and ICU.

"The maximum number of beds to be allocated for Covid-19 patients is based on the capacity of the wards and ICUs," he said.

The allocation of the beds, he noted, must be in accordance with the capabilities of the private hospital and must not affect the quality of healthcare given to patients.

Dr Noor Hisham also said that the use of ICU beds in government hospitals had increased more than 70% and more than 100% in the central region.

Hospital beds at wards also showed an increase of 70% to 90%, he added.