Dr Dzul: Upgrade triaging in hospitals, don't harp on patients' dressing

PETALING JAYA: Giving patients preliminary assessments in hospital should be the priority, not how they dress, says Datuk Seri Dr Dzulkefly Ahmad (pic).

"The triage must be based on the severity of illness and not the patient's attire," the Health Minister wrote on X on Friday (Dec 15).

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He was addressing the issue of a death of a patient in Hospital Sungai Petani who had to wait for five hours before he was given a preliminary assessment.

His statement also referred to a comment by an X user who asked if wearing shorts to the hospital was wrong.

The user's comment followed a recent dispute between a senior citizen and security guard at Hospital Seberang Jaya over a supposed dress code violation.

ALSO READ: Miscommunication behind dress code dispute at Penang hospital, says state health exco chief

The incident happened on Monday (Dec 11) when a 72-year-old man was turned away from the hospital after he was deemed to be inappropriately dressed.

However, the hospital director later clarified it was a misunderstanding between the security guard and the complainant.