Patients at Hospital Kulai exceed daily average on public holiday

JOHOR BARU: The Temenggong Seri Maharaja Tun Ibrahim Hospital (HTSMTI) in Kulai received an influx of patients exceeding the daily average of 260 patients after the Kulai Health Clinic’s closure on the public holiday for Awal Muharram on Wednesday (July 19).

Johor Health director Dr Mohtar Pungut@Ahmad said this in response to the claim of a dissatisfied visitor who said she had to wait for three hours when she took her husband to the Emergency and Trauma Unit of the hospital on the said day.

He said the Johor State Health Department (JKNJ) had carried out a review regarding the disaastisfaction through a post uploaded by the owner of a Zalina Abd Rahman Facebook account, which also went viral on the Kulai Residents Facebook page two days ago.

"A check was made on the patient’s registration record, which revealed that the man had attended HTSMTI on Wednesday (July 19) and complained of coughing and difficulty in breathing (but) initial screening at the ‘primary’ and ‘secondary triage’ found that the patient’s vital signs were stable and was categorised as a mild case before being asked to wait in the green zone.

"However, the patient decided not to wait and went home, before coming back the next day (Thursday) and was admitted to the ward for further treatment,” Dr Mohtar said in a post on JKNJ’s Facebook page on Friday (July 21).

He said the average number of patient visits to the hospital’s emergency and trauma unit is 150 patients, which is about 50 patients per shift.

"Thus, the management of HTSMTI advises patients who face problems when seeking treatment to contact the supervisor on duty to get more information or assistance,” he said.

Earlier, a post on Facebook went viral, claiming and questioning the hospital’s emergency services which were said to be slow in providing treatment for patients including children who waited for three hours.- Bernama