http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2010/5/12/focus/6239335&sec=focus
I took my mum to Muar General Hospital on May 10 for a stomach endoscopic inspection after a troublesome appointment process with the doctor. I arrived at the Muar Sultanah Fatimah Specialist Hospital at 8.15am for registration and my 76-year-old mum was taken to the operation room at around 8.30am after I paid the RM20 service fee.
My physically weak mum had to wait four long hours before a simple endoscopic inspection on her stomach was carried out. Then the doctor asked my mum to come back after 2pm to collect her medicine. It was 2.30pm before I could pick up my mum from the hospital.
A simple endoscopic inspection took six hours to complete! It shows this government hospital is very ineffective and inefficient.
I do not blame the dedicated doctors there, but rather the hospital management and Health Ministry for rendering such poor services to us, the taxpayers. They have to improve the medication process to achieve the objective of 1Malaysia slogan “Rakyat didahulukan, Pencapaian diutamakan”.
N.K. KHOO,
Cheras.
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Hospital explains delay in endoscopic procedure
http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2010/5/14/focus/6257616&sec=focus
I REFER to the letter “Muar GH has to buck up” (The Star, May 12). The writer complained that his mother had to endure six hours to complete a simple endoscopic procedure in Muar Hospital on May 10 and after paying a RM20 service fee.
I would like to explain what actually happened on that day. The patient, a 76 year-old woman was registered as number five on the list of 12 for endoscopic procedure at about 8.30am. The first case was called at 9.20am and the procedure was completed at 9.50am. This was followed by the second and third case which ended by 10.30am.
However, the forth case developed a complication while doing the colonoscopy polyectomy and had to be treated until 12.25pm.
The writer’s mother was attended to by 12.40pm and the procedure ended at 12.45pm. She was told to return to see the doctor an hour later to get the test result. This is a test to detect a kind of organism responsible for stomach ulcer.
She was then given a prescription to collect the medicine at the pharmacy. The patient collected a six-week course of medication at the Express Counter at 2.14pm and left at 2.16pm.
I would like to stress that endoscopic procedures are not without complications, and if it happens, the patient has to be managed first before continuing to the next patient. We are mindful of the objectives of “people first, performance now” policy and will endeavor to improve our services.
DR MOHD KHAIRI YAKUB,
Health Director,
Johor State Health Department.
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My reply to Dr Mohd Khairi Yakub on 14th May 2010.
I’m glad to see a prompt reply from Dr. Mohd Khairi Yakub on my complaint about Muar GH. (Link: http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2010/5/14/focus/6257616&sec=focus)
I do not satisfy with the explanation given by him because there is a discrepancy on the registration record and actual attendance rendered to my mother.
According to Dr. Mohd. Khairi Yakub, my mum is in queue number 5 and the delay was due to complications on a fourth patient. This is NOT the true picture on the field, I visited my mum in the waiting room several times and noticed only two patients left in the waiting room before my mum was called in.
In another word, my mum was in number 10 in the actual attendance, NOT the number 5 patient as given by the Johor Health Director. There is irregularity in the first come first served principle, and it is unfair treatment to an elderly and weak patient.
The CCTV footage in the operation and waiting rooms should be a good source on what was actually happen on that morning. I hope MOH can conduct a fair investigation on this incident and prevent same incident on other patient in the future.
Regards,
nkkhoo
