Dear Deputy Health Minister ......

I read the below from

http://www.wretch.cc/blog/teonieching/21022288.

”Puan Teo Nie Ching [Serdang]: Terima kasih Tuan Yang di-Pertua. Okay, mengenai soalan kedua ataupun bahagian kedua saya. Saya telah menerima banyak aduan yang mengatakan bahawa kebanyakan doktor latihan siswazah ini, mereka bekerja berterusan hari pertama hari ini, malam on call dan juga esok kerana kekurangan doktor-doktor ataupun doctor latihan. Saya rasa sampai hujung tahun lepas, bilangan hospital swasta telah meningkat ke 209 buah.

Tambahan pula kementerian telah menerima 55 permohonan untuk membuka hospital swasta dan kita semua tahu gaji di hospital swasta adalah lebih lumayan dan gaji di hospital kerajaan adalah di antara RM4,000 sampai RM10,000 sebulan, tetapi di hospital swasta gaji adalah di antara RM10,000 sampai RM100,000 sebulan. Sebagai akibatnya, 7% doktor pakar pilih untuk bekerja, berkhidmat di hospital swasta di mana mereka hanya berkhidmat untuk 30% pesakit yang mampu untuk membayar untuk harga perubatan yang lebih tinggi.

Jadi saya risau bahawa sekiranya kementerian terus meluluskan permohonan untuk membuka.. [Dewan riuh] sabar sikit, untuk membuka hospital swasta, jadi bagaimana kita boleh memastikan bahawa kita mempunyai kakitangan ataupun doktor-doktor...

Dato' Haji Tajuddin Abdul Rahman [Pasir Salak]: Bagi chancelah, budak-budak.

Puan Teo Nie Ching [Serdang]: ...yang mencukupi untuk bekerja di hospital kerajaan dan supaya doktor latihan ini ataupun doktor-doktor pakar kita tidak perlu bekerja berterusan lebih daripada 24 jam.

Datuk Dr. Haji Abdul Latiff bin Ahmad: Peraturan 24(3), saya tak perlu jawab dan saya akan jawab dalam penggulungan nanti. Pasal doktor bekerja berterusan ini, itu memang sebahagian daripada training dan cara bekerja. 24 jam kalau on call kemudian esok dia akan bekerja seperti biasa. Itu memang dah amalan daripada azali. [Dewan riuh]

Jadi kalau mereka sama ada di hospital swasta mahupun di hospital kerajaan, kalau mereka rasa teruk bekerja dengan izinlah, saya rasa they are in wrong profession. Terima kasih”

Having my dad suffered a long and painful death from what I perceived as medical negligence and system failure, I feel compel to suggest that the problems with healthcare in Malaysia is not going to improve with the level of sensitivity showed by the Deputy Minister.

The issue at hand is government hospital doctors are under paid and had to work long hours. The Deputy Minister talks about “they are in wrong profession”.

Has the Minister thought about whether

1) the ratio of doctors & hospitals to patients in each respective areas are reviewed periodically and ensure adequate healthcare personnel, services and equipment are provided to the tax payers?

2) the doctors are provided with sufficient equipment and administrative staff in running the hospitals?

3) there is an adequate procedure to manage duty roosters to ensure sufficient personnel are at station at all time?

4) adequate facilities is provided to our doctors to let them have sufficient rest period so that they can be at a good physical and mental state to tend to the tax payers who are in need of help?

5) is there a properly functioning system whereby doctors and evaluated, counseled and assessed so that the best doctors can be retained, sent for further training and remunerated properly in terms of financial and non-financial rewards whereas under-performing doctors are either to be further re-trained or re-assigned out of harms way? there should be a similar system for all staff in government hospitals.

Can't be more eloquent than this fellow:

“During my 2 years in Ranau, I’ve heard and seen it all, patients with cerebral malaria, a condition unheard of in Peninsular Malaysia, coming in after 48 hours to the hospital from places like Kaingaran and Karagasan, with relatives having to push the ‘private taxi’ through mud, spending RM50 on fare during the monsoon season, the equivalent of 2 months oncome, this too when petrol was only around RM1.20 a litre….

“Emergency surgery such as caesarean sections, appendectomies and even ectopic pregnancies had to be performed in our little district hospitals by Medical Officers with little more than 4 months housemanship experience…..

Page 12,”The cries of Sabah by Lim Kit Siang – ‘Don’t neglect Sabah, please’ by Another Doctor, 11 October 2008”

We need compassionate and right thinking people to run the ministry.