Fast-tracking healthcare: Besides reducing wait times, the ministry launched the MyUBAT in 2021 which allows patients to receive long-term prescriptions from public health facilities through a mobile app. — Bernama
PETALING JAYA: Finance officer Siti Hajar Mohammad and her family are regular patients of the Kuala Lumpur public health clinic and they are used to waiting half a day, or sometimes the whole day to get treated for ailments such as the common cold.
But lately, those wait times have been slashed to as short as 30 minutes, she said.
“Back then, the staff at government clinics still registered patients manually, like filling up a patient’s particulars on a card,” Siti Hajar, 30, said when met at the clinic yesterday while she accompanied her husband.
“Now, we only need to give our identification card and the staff member checks our particulars through a computer system,” she said, adding that the waiting time to get treated for common conditions has improved.
“For instance, these days it took a little more than an hour to see the doctor and get medication for the common cold.
“However, waiting times still depend on what treatment we are seeking and the size of the crowd. For outpatient services, the waiting time is bearable.”
Siti Hajar is hopeful that such efficiency will be expanded to other states.
“I am from Kelantan and the public clinics there still need to be improved,” she said.
The reduced wait times are due to efforts to digitalise the procedures at public hospitals and clinics.
Health Minister Datuk Seri Dr Dzulkefly Ahmad has said that wait times have been cut from three hours to 30 minutes.
Besides reducing the time it takes to register, patients can now book their appointments through the MySejahtera mobile app.
Another regular visitor to a public clinic is Nur Fithrah, who took her newborn for a follow-up at the Ampang public clinic.
Although registration took about five minutes, she said that in the past, she had to wait almost six hours to see a doctor.
“When I came here for the first time last year for a maternity check-up, there were so many patients,” she said.
“I arrived at 8am but only managed to see the doctor at 2pm. But after several visits, it has got better.”
Nur Fithrah, 31, said the clinic has improved its registration process to better manage its patients and reduce wait times.
Rajeswary Raji, 42, who visited Ampang clinic for the first time with her sister, said: “Registration was smooth and fast but the doctors were taking a long time with their consultations.”
Shantie CJ Raguputhy, 64, also praised the government for digitising the records at the KL public health clinic.
“Back then, the waiting time was worse, especially when there were a lot of patients,” said the heart patient.
“But now, everything is already at your fingertips.”
Besides reducing wait times, the ministry launched the Medicines Supply Management System for Pharmacy Value Added Services (MyUBAT) in 2021, which allows patients to receive long-term prescriptions from public health facilities through a mobile app.
MyUBAT also offers the Ubat Melalui Post scheme where patients can request that their medications be directly mailed to their homes without having to physically be present at government pharmacies.
