MOH acts on hospital bed issue

KUALA LUMPUR: The current usage of patient beds, including repurposed beds in hospitals, in the Klang Valley has now reached more than 85%, says Health Minister Datuk Seri Dr Adham Baba.

He said that by taking into account the need for extra beds, especially in the intensive care unit (ICU), the Health Ministry would implement several immediate measures to address the unexpected high referral rate to the ministry’s hospitals in the Klang Valley.

Among the steps that will be implemented immediately is to further expand the outsourcing of non-Covid-19 patients to private hospitals to enable Hospital Kuala Lumpur (HKL) to treat more Covid-19 patients.

In addition to ICU and non-ICU beds, equipment and facilities like ventilators at Health Ministry (MOH) hospitals and university teaching hospitals such as Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia Children’s Specialist Hospital (HPKK UKM), Hospital Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM), and Hospital Universiti Teknologi Mara (UiTM) will be increased to treat more Covid-19 patients.

“Another step is to provide temporary reassignment (mobilisation) of healthcare personnel consisting of medical specialists and paramedics from other states to support services at MOH hospitals and teaching hospitals that need additional staff to treat Covid-19 patients,” he said in a statement yesterday.

Dr Adham said another measure was to optimise the contribution of volunteers and final-year nursing students from the MOH training institutes who were undergoing practical training to assist healthcare personnel at vaccination centres (PPV), while some experienced nurses at PPV and Covid-19 screening centres would be reassigned to MOH hospitals.

“Through these actions, the MOH hopes that the pressure faced by the hospitals to treat Covid-19 patients can be reduced from time to time and the country can achieve recovery soon,” he added.

Dr Adham also said that of the total Covid-19 cases handled by HKL, 71% were of Categories Three to Five.

Based on the latest records, the HKL Emergency and Trauma Department receives between 60 and 70 Covid-19 patients daily, with an average of three Categories Four and Five patients who need respiratory assistance in addition to treatment in the ICU.

(Covid-19 patients under Categories One to Three show no or slight symptoms while those in Category Four require supplementary oxygen treatment. Patients in Category Five require ventilator support.)

Dr Adham explained that the high number of admissions or referrals to the HKL Emergency and Trauma Department as a Covid-19 hybrid status referral hospital, i.e. receiving both Covid-19 and non-Covid-19 patients, was being managed by the provision of extra beds, while stable Covid-19 patients would be transferred to the Cheras Rehabilitation Hospital and the nearby Respiratory Medicine Institute (both in KL).

The increasing number of Covid-19 patients or referrals to MOH hospitals in the Klang Valley is being addressed in collaboration with Hospital Sungai Buloh, whose current status is C-19 Hospital, and the Covid-19 Quarantine and Low-risk Treatment Centre at Malaysia Agro Exposition Park Serdang (MAEPS), which treats patients up to Category Four before being transferred to the hospital.

“MOH is also working with HPKK UKM, Hospital UPM, Hospital UiTM and the Malaysian Armed Forces Hospital to treat both Covid-19 and non-Covid-19 patients,” said Dr Adham. — Bernama