As Malaysians, we are generally fortunate enough to be able to enjoy considerably subsidised healthcare services through the public healthcare system, which is funded by taxpayers. With that said, the system has been met with some criticism by some quarters recently over a myriad of issues, among which includes the government contract system with regards to the appointment of medical officers, as well as long wait-times at government hospital units and clinics.
Shouting match ensues over long wait time at government hospital
And patient dissatisfaction over the latter has led to a shouting match to take place 5 days ago in the waiting lounge of a government hospital. In a video uploaded by TikTok user @bisma_ali05 that was subsequently shared by local media portal MyNewsHub, a man who is presumed to be a patient could be heard engaging in a shouting match with hospital staff after being forced to wait for almost an entire day for service.
It was alleged that the patient had arrived at the hospital since 8.00am, and has been waiting for their turn until 7.00pm to no avail. It was said that the video was filmed at the Cardiology Unit of Hospital Serdang.
High case load caused delays
According to local newspaper Berita Harian, Health Minister Dr Zaliha Mustafa has clarified that the incident was sparked due to a high case load that was experienced at the unit during the time of the altercation.
“The presence of high case numbers has led to longer wait times. The patient involved in the altercation was also a repeat appointment.”
“More time was spent on every patient as examinations on heart patients require more care.” she explained.
She has since issued an apology on behalf of the Ministry of Health over the matter, and assures that the hospital management will be looking into how they can further improve their services following the outburst.
With that said, she has urged the public to empathise with healthcare workers who work hard without pause to help provide the best possible healthcare they can.
The video has since sparked discussions online regarding the state of government hospital wait times, and staff shortages among medical workers.
“Government hospital here, pregnant mothers need to wait for 12 hours and above to be warded. They can register at 12.00 noon, and only be warded at 1.00am in the morning, exhausted while waiting in the labour room.”
“My experience, bleeding as a result of a miscarriage. I went to the emergency room. 2 to 3 hours of waiting later, I gave up. I went to the pharmacy to ask for painkillers. Packed my belongings. Went back to my home village. Went to the hospital near my parents-in-law’s home, got treatment in 10 minutes. But travelling back to my home village took 1.5 hours.”
“I’ve experienced this first hand. Appointment times start at 9.00am at Hospital Serdang’s Cardiology Unit, I arrived and couldn’t find parking at 7.00am, so I went to park at IOI and then took a Grab. From 9.00am they took my letter, and then I started waiting from 10.00am to 7.00pm. I was the last person who met the doctor that day. Ya Allah SWT, I wanted to cry.”
Others point to the fact that wait times have become longer due to a lack of medical staff as a consequence of the poor management of the contract medical officer system in Malaysia, leading to many medical officers to resign en-masse.
“Didn’t Malaysians tell doctors to resign as there are still millions who want to work in hospitals anyway? Why complain now? Ask those millions to deal with this.”
“Back when doctors complained for permanent positions, netizens tell them to resign because they do not know how to appreciate what they have. Now when doctors resign, and there are a lack of medical personnel, wait times become longer, and yet they still scold doctors? So what do netizens want exactly?”
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