KUALA LUMPUR – The Congress of Unions of Employees in the Public and Civil Services (Cuepacs) has proposed that the Health Ministry immediately set up an independent monitoring team to evaluate and study problems in health facilities.
Cuepacs president Adnan Mat said among the issues that need attention are staff adequacy at all levels, workload in handling Covid-19 and other medical cases, condition of facilities, and frequency of work shifts to ensure staff are not working continuously for a week.
He said the team must be allowed to conduct inspections and risk assessment on all health facilities and present their findings to the prime minister as well as the Health Ministry’s top management for immediate mitigation measures.
“Health staff are not robots, they are humans who get physically and emotionally affected. Other things that can be evaluated by this team are equipment, including personal protective equipment, and vehicles, which must be sufficient in number and in good condition," he said in a statement.
In another matter, Cuepacs also conveyed its condolences to the family of frontliner Dr Ali Noor Hassan, who died recently of an underlying illness, and expressed its appreciation for his dedication and responsibility undertaken in battling the Covid-19 pandemic.
Health Director-General Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah has since denied that Dr Ali’s death was due to exhaustion or Covid-19. – Bernama, January 20, 2021
