Health Minister promises to resolve issues at hospitals

KUALA LUMPUR: Health Minister Dr Zaliha Mustafa (pic) is determined to do everything she can to resolve the issue of healthcare staff shortage, congestion and long waiting time at public hospitals.

In a message on TikTok yesterday, she said it is best for aggrieved healthcare workers to discuss their problems with her and the Health Ministry (MOH) rather than go on a strike, adding that protests will not solve the problems.

“I understand the problems due to my own background as a doctor. I am determined to resolve these issues.

“If I can, I will resolve them today, but we have to understand that I need some time to understand the problems and issues at length and to achieve the best solution to the best of my ability,” she said.

Dr Zaliha said the aggrieved healthcare workers can meet her and her officers to discuss the issues and find a solution.

She also told the Dewan Rakyat that there has been an increasing trend of patients coming to the emergency departments at public hospitals based on MOH data.

“One of the reasons is the Covid-19 pandemic and the increasing complications from non-communicable diseases (NCD),” she added.

To address this, she said MOH will be meeting state hospital directors at the end of this month to find out more about the situation on the ground.

She said efforts will be made to increase efficiency and reduce waiting time for patients, including the time taken for a patient to register at the counter until medication is dispensed or for a patient to be admitted into the ward.

For example, such efforts have helped to reduce waiting time at the Tengku Ampuan Rahimah Hospital in Klang from 192 minutes to 88 minutes, she added.

Other initiatives included creating short stay unit wards for patients who are medically stable and only require treatment for less than 72 hours.

“This will reduce the waiting time for inpatient beds for mild cases that need short-term monitoring. This can help reduce congestion at the emergency departments and patients length of stay at hospitals.”

She said that the MOH has also strengthened the bed management unit through the hospital’s Crisis Preparedness and Response Centre system.

She added the indicators for admissions to wards from emergency departments are also monitored.

Non-emergency cases are transferred to health clinics and the government is also looking at extending operation hours of these clinics.

She was replying to Dr Kelvin Yii Lee Wuen (PH-Bandar Kuching) who asked on the ministry’s plans to reduce congestion at emergency and trauma departments nationwide.