I WAS extremely concerned to read about the plight of doctors and nurses serving at Sarikei Hospital and Sibu Hospital recently.
I sympathise with the extreme challenges they face in terms of work fatigue and burnout and a lack of adequate healthcare facilities and equipment to manage critically ill Covid-19 patients.
Data transparency fundamental to pandemic management
Sarawak’s state Disaster Management Committee must be transparent and accurate in reporting Covid-19 and healthcare data. Data transparency and integrity is key to enabling appropriate resource allocation and disaster mitigation planning. All cases of Covid-19 must be recorded, whether confirmed by RT-PCR or RTK-Ag tests.
Increase healthcare manpower urgently
I urge the Health Ministry to deploy more manpower to tackle burnout and physical and mental exhaustion among healthcare workers. Our frontliners have been the backbone of our response to the Covid-19 pandemic for nearly 18 months now. The well-being of healthcare workers should not be taken lightly and must not be compromised.
I urge the new health minister to please solve the contract doctors issue by providing them job security, clear training and career progression pathways, and financial remuneration in line with their colleagues at the same grade and experience. This will prove that the government respects our frontliners and is committed to strengthening our healthcare system and building sustainable capacity for our front-line workforce. Asymptomatic close contact healthcare workers should be swabbed to avoid asymptomatic carriers spreading the virus to colleagues, family members, and non-Covid-19 patients.
Regular testing amongst healthcare workers twice a week with RTK-Ag tests has been implemented in other countries around the world and should be adopted in Malaysia as a way of protecting patients and preventing hospital outbreaks.
Provide urgent equipment for critical and emergency care
For too long, the public healthcare system in Sarawak has been neglected and underfunded. I urge the Health Ministry to increase the number of inpatient beds to care for Covid-19 patients and to implement field hospitals in some areas as an emergency measure.
I also urge the health minister to ensure there is sufficient essential equipment, such as oxygen concentrators, ventilators, drip pumps and stands, and other equipment essential for the management of critically ill patients.
Ensure Sarawak’s sick hospital projects rectified urgently
I urge the health minister to also come to Sarawak and see for himself the sad and sick situation facing our crumbling government hospitals and front-line healthcare workers. In some districts, patients have waited more than two decades for new hospital facilities, such as the “sick hospital project” in Lawas.
Similarly, hospitals in Sri Aman and Petrajaya have yet to be completed, despite being years in development. The Covid-19 pandemic has uncovered the cracks in the ailing healthcare system in Sarawak, which has been neglected for over 50 years. As a result, many lives have been lost as Sarawakians struggle to access adequate healthcare in a timely fashion.
This must be addressed urgently as the Sarawak healthcare system is now at breaking point as a result of the pandemic. – The Vibes, October 13, 2021
Dr Michael Teo Yu Keng is Miri MP
