The Malaysian Insight

THE Tengku Ampuan Rahimah Hospital (HTAR) in Klang, Selangor is in a state of emergency, a clear indicator that the government has failed the people, said Klang MP Charles Santiago.

The DAP lawmaker said the hospital has become “a living hell” for Covid-19 patients and healthcare workers due to a high admission rate and shortages of staff and medical equipment.

“I raised this issue with the Health Minister (Dr Adham Baba) in Parliament yesterday and he just promised to have an impromptu walkabout at the hospitals,” Santiago said.

“The promise is not enough… we are racing against time as our public health system will collapse anytime soon.”

He said frontline workers at HTAR are overwhelmed, working 14-hour shifts and the workload is growing as Covid infections multiply.

Selangor yesterday reported 6,616 new Covid-19 cases to make it 380,593 cases since the pandemic began. It has the state with the highest virus caseload and deaths.

“A friend’s mother-in-law who was infected and sent to HTAR sat outside the Emergency Department for three days without receiving any medical care. She passed away despite being provided with ventilator support (on the fourth day),” he said.

“That is not the only case. Many such cases are not reported. The patients have to take turns and share the ventilators and oxygen tanks.”

He said three medical assistants were assigned as many as 200 patients a day.

This leaves the medical assistant with just 15 minutes to provide a patient with primary care, which is  “absolutely inhumane”, said Santiago.

“The government promised to transfer more medical personnel from other states to support HTAR. But unfortunately, the promise is not fulfilled.

“Although many wards have been opened, staff shortage in HTAR is still a significant issue, and it is getting worse and chaotically out of control.”

Santiago said inadequate medical equipment, including oxygen and ventilators, have led to an increasing number of deaths at the hospital.

He urged the health minister to urgently allocate RM20 million each hospital in the Klang Valley to expand ICU facilities and buy more ventilators and oxygen tanks as every one of the healthcare faciltiies in the central zone is facing severe shortage of staff, ambulances, beds and medical equipment.

“We also need the government to be responsive, to mobilise and increase the number of medical staff immediately. This includes doctors, nurses, medical assistants, etc,” the Klang MP said.

He said it is time for the Perikatan Nasional government to live up to the name of “kerajaan prihatin” that it has given itself and support the frontline workers and save lives.

Santiago yesterday asked Adham in the Dewan Rakyat to visit HTAR again to see for himself the state that it was in. The MP told the minister that the situation had regressed at the hospital once more after Adham’s visit with Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin.

Muhyiddin had visited the hospital following media reports that the Emergency Department was buckling under the strain of an unprecedented number of patients.

Videos went viral on social media depicting several patients sharing oxygen meant for one. Patients were lying on the ground as they waited for attention from overworked doctors and nurses. – July 28, 2021.