KUALA LUMPUR: Kuala Lumpur Hospital (HKL) has received a RM1mil boost from the Federal Government for the purpose of asset procurements as well as improving its inventory to ensure that the best services are extended to the people in the Klang Valley.
Health Minister Dr Zaliha Mustafa said that the 150-year-old hospital accommodates about 50,000 inpatient services at its wards each year, which reflects the commitment of its staff.
"Actually the hospital requires more than RM1mil but we have approved that amount for the purpose of asset procurement and inventory," she told reporters after her official working visit Friday (March 17).
She added that the ministry was considering a special allocation to HKL to embrace digitalisation in saving patients' records.
It is revealed during the briefing by HKL director Datin Paduka Dr Rohana Johan that the hospital still relies on the manual method to store about 16,000 patients' data in a day, which is stored at its Wisma Kayu.
Dr Zaliha said that through the process of digitalisation, it will help the HKL management to ease the burden in storing data and managing it more efficiently.
"We understand the importance of digitalisation and how it can help HKL and God-willing, we will consider a special allocation for this," she added.
Earlier, Dr Rohana had also briefed the minister on the efforts taken to reduce congestion and overcrowding at HKL.
Among them, is to empower nurses to ensure that patients will get the beds at wards as soon as possible.
"However, although the leaving time is at noon, some of the elderly patients will only be picked up after working hours.
"When they don't go out, the beds are not empty. They (the children) prefer to come after working hours, and this is the reality," she said.
Asked on the government's plan to attract private general practitioners to join the initiative to extend operation hours at public health clinics, Dr Zaliha said that the ministry can only encourage them to participate.
"When we extend the hours, we need more personnel to help," she noted.
