Daily Express – Whistleblowers to the rescue for better health services
I refer to the news item – “Ministry failed Sabahans: NGO” published in Daily Express on Thursday 26/5/2016 where the Sabah People's Right Association alleged that the Health Ministry has failed the people of Sabah by not improving the conditions in Queen Elizabeth Hospital I (QEH I), beside also highlighted several outstanding grouses.
While it may be true with those specific allegations but it is not totally “helpless” for the health authorities in Sabah especially for QEH1 and QEH2 in Kota Kinabalu.
Let the patients and the public judge the performance of the clinic in Kota Kinabalu especially The Luyang outpatient clinic and the hospitals in Kota Kinabalu and elsewhere in Sabah.
Despite what Mr Lee Pun Yee, President of Sabah People’s Right Association has claimed, there are thousands of patients daily being treated by the doctors in the Luyang’s clinic and the two other hospitals in Kota Kinabalu.
We should hear from them too. Of course nobody is perfect but they are trying their best daily in long hours for many of the staff in the clinic and the hospitals to attend to the thousands of patients especially in recent years of tough economic circumstances. I have seen even some millionaires going as patients to the hospital facilities.
Since when we do not have grouses about our hospitals in recent decades, and I had written some letters before in daily express about grouses by doctors, staff, and patients and even if you go to private hospitals in Singapore or elsewhere, you do encounter all sorts of complaints too.
What Mr Lee wrote albeit can be true experiences, but it is not all black dots for them as such expressive statements could send a general “demoralising” feeling to the staff of the various establishments under the Health Ministry.
We have to consider other factors together to give some credit to some good development and good services by the medical facilities generally.
From what I understand QEH1 and QEH2 were seeing referred patients from Luyang Health Clinic (LHC) and patients for emergencies and not all patients are referred to the two hospitals.
I had seen a very young doctor who appeared to me to have been very much overworked in the Health Clinic so much so that he was waiting to resign upon his completion of housemanship. Do we have any sympathy with him? I have also seen a lady doctor who could not speak good English? I think both these doctors are no longer in the LHC. So what do we propose for improvement in such examples for us to ponder?
Yes, I am always passing almost daily QEH1 and there are always plenty of illegal parking on the roads when the open space parking is usually full even until late in the morning. Traffic Police always there to place tickets, illegal parking continues unabated. Where would we expect the patients and caretakers park their vehicles if not on the roads pavement or dividers?
We as the public really have no say in what the Ministry of Health does if any improvements have yet to be done by the authorities.
We can only make suggestions or even protests for better services and better facilities. This brings me back to the days when the old hospital block of QEH was dilapidated and beyond repair and various suggestions like building QEH in faraway place in Putatan but somehow all proposed plans were thwarted and now we see a new hospital building in the same locality. Having said that I think it may be timely that the pathology unit on an old building should be replaced by a multi storeyed/basement carpark.
Also QEH1, QEH2 and LHC also have critical parking problems and how would these be sorted out quickly although LHC has an open space/ children playground converted to carparks? So the Health Ministry/authorities surely fully aware of these must address such issues promptly. Patients would increase by several folds given the current depressed economy and lack of public transport is not helping.
I would like to end this article with a compliment for the QEH1, QEH 2 and LHC even LHC on sort of sinking ground. We have to appreciate much pressure are piling up on some quarters of the health and medical facilities especially on the qualified and semi qualified dedicated staff. If you go to some of the specialists units early in the morning in both QEHs, there is little spaces to move about or simply congested. Similar scenario in LHC. Then the long wait to be attended to prevail inevitably and just patiently wait for the turn.
No doubt, there is improvement in the orderly queues system if compared with the older days. One thing is that congested atmosphere for patients is likely unhealthy and for me I got the worst headache for the first time waiting for an hour or more in the congested blood tests waiting room.
Even babies were subject to such severe atmosphere.
How does the staff feel when there are so many patients almost daily? Tough days ahead? Do we have any easy solution when we are told shortage of suitably qualified doctors in QEH1, QEH2 and LHC?
Is it business for the Health Ministry as usual despite the increasing number of patients?
I am here also to share an experience at QEH1 which I treasure much as it is about my wife with one good eye and the doctors and staff at the eye specialist clinic had sorted out my wife’s medical problems very well and a timely surgery for cataract coupled with glaucoma had given her a new life of good sight.
She was warded for a week post surgery and well taken care of especially by the top eye surgeon in Sabah and possibly Malaysia.
The result after almost a year is still considered very well.
My wife also had to go to the Orthopaedic clinic in QEH2 where she is also well attended to.
So we hope that all round improvement can be rendered by the Health Ministry and that more whistleblowers can come forward and put our heads together to address whatever failings that may have arisen in some ways and the people’s expectation would be fulfilled at the time when needs of patients are gravest and greatest.
Joshua Y. C. Kong
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