KUALA LUMPUR – The Malaysian Medical Association (MMA) wants Putrajaya to review medical standard operating procedures (SOPs) for Covid-19 and iron out some issues before implementing a “public-private partnership” initiative between the Health Ministry and general practitioners (GPs).
Its president, Datuk Dr M. Subramaniam, said proper planning and coordination are needed to ensure smooth implementation of the compulsory screening of migrant workers from all sectors across several states.
He said among the problems GPs now face is the Antigen Rapid Test Kit (RTK-Ag) swab-testing SOP and bureaucratic red tape, which must be addressed before more large-scale testing can be carried out smoothly.
“For a seamless implementation, the ministry should review the SOPs for conducting the RTK-Ag screening,” he said in a statement.
He said the current SOPs, in which a patient confirmed positive for the virus is isolated at a clinic and made to wait for pick-up by an ambulance or district health officers, is not practical.
“There have been cases where patients were made to wait for hours for transportation to arrive due to the heavy workload at district health offices.
“A proper transport arrangement for Covid-19 positive patients will need to be put in place,” said Dr Subramaniam.
Furthermore, he said SOPs requiring Covid-19 positive samples be sent to admitting hospitals has also caused delays.
He said the association this process unnecessary as a patient testing positive through the RTK-Ag test would eventually have to undergo a RT-PCR swab test at the admission hospital.
Another issue facing GPs is the inconsistent implementation of the closure of private clinics and quarantining of staff, a matter the MMA has brought up with the ministry many times.
“The MMA had recently highlighted that clinic staff had to undergo quarantine even when they did not fulfil the criteria of being a close contact. As a result, a number of clinics have had to close as there were no staff to run the clinic,” he said.
Dr Subramaniam also raised concerns about organisations not registered with the ministry providing Covid-19 tests.
He said many middlemen and non-healthcare related agents are involved in screening and swab tests in facilities that are not registered to do so with the Health Ministry.
He said the swab tests must be performed by trained healthcare professionals, otherwise, patients risk injuries, health issues or even false negative results if tests are performed incorrectly.
“Only GPs, specialist clinics and ambulatory care centres are allowed to conduct onsite screening as it is part of primary care and not secondary or tertiary care.
“The MMA is currently working with the ministry on training more GPs to conduct the swab tests. We anticipate another 500 will be registering for training in the next two weeks,” he said.
He said employers must insist on swab certification and proof from the facility that it is registered with the ministry. The public can also check if a facility is registered at the ministry's website. – The Vibes, November 22, 2020
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