GEORGE TOWN: More than 70% of patients visiting the Emergency and Trauma Department at Penang Hospital are non-critical cases, says state health committee chairman Daniel Gooi.
He added that the department handles around 300 cases a day.
"Based on our data from January to July, non-emergency cases accounted for 32.99% while Green Zone (minor) cases made up 40.6% of cases, totalling 73.56% of total cases seen by the department," he told the state assembly on Wednesday (Nov 4).
"It recorded 7.14% for the Red Zone (critical) who required immediate treatment and 19.81% in the Yellow Zone (semi-critical).
"This means that over 40% of cases did not require immediate attention but still needed medical care and over 30% of cases were not emergencies.
"The department still continues to receive these patients as it cannot turn them away."
Gooi Hsiao-Leung (PH-Bukit Tengah) wanted to know the contributing factors to congestion and long waits at the department after videos of the daily crowd went viral.
Daniel said the hospital plays a larger role as it is a specialist referral hospital for the northern region.
"This means it serves not only Penangites but also patients from across the northern states," he added.
He said several initiatives to address this issue include extending operating hours at high-capacity health clinics, improving referral rules so high-risk patients can be admitted directly to wards from health clinics, and working with nearby private clinics through the Madani Medical Scheme and PeKa B40 programme to treat low-risk patients.
"We are working to divert non-emergency cases from the Green Zone to primary healthcare facilities to reduce the number of patients at the hospital's emergency department.
"We now have two Urban Transformation Centre clinics, at Komtar and Penang Sentral, which offer services beyond normal office hours.
"We hope that patients who fall under the Green Zone and non-emergency cases will consider visiting these clinics to seek treatment," he said.
Daniel said long-term measures include two new blocks at Penang Hospital.
"The women and children's block is expected to be completed next year, while the specialist clinic and ward block is expected to be ready in 2029.
"The new facilities will also add more beds and help ease overcrowding at the emergency department.
"The Health Ministry will continue monitoring measures to ensure healthcare services are delivered efficiently and promptly to the public," he said.
