KUCHING: The government has set up a Public Sector Reform Task Force (STAR) which will work on reducing congestion in public hospitals.
Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Fadillah Yusof said the task force chaired by the Chief Secretary to the Government Tan Sri Mohd Zuko Ali will involve various agencies aside from the Ministry of Health (MoH).
And they will look into the necessary improvement that needs to be carried out.
“The government has made many efforts, be it short, middle and long term measures to overcome the issue, among them, by building new hospitals, and upgrading the old hospital and health clinic, but still congestion in the hospital occurs.
“For me, this congestion has to do with the quality of our health system where the health officers, doctor nurses and all involved in our healthcare are improving, thus people feel more confident to seek treatment at public hospitals.
“Secondly, it is because our hospital services are almost free… it is cheaper compared to private hospitals,” he said during the Prime Minister’s Question Time in parliament on Tuesday (Feb 28).
Fadillah was responding to Oscar Ling (PH-Sibu), who had asked about the government’s effort to address congestion in public hospitals.
However, the Petra Jaya MP said while public hospitals are congested due to the quality of health services provided, at the same time it also gives the impression that Malaysians do not practice a healthy lifestyle.
“Therefore, more people have to be referred to hospital, to see a doctor when they have a fever, other sickness, and so on. As such, the MoH must also promote a culture of healthy living,” he said.
He added that MPs could collaborate with MoH or doctors to organise health related programmes to raise awareness on how to lead a healthy lifestyle.
“This is so that the people need not often go to the hospital unless there are critical cases,” he said.
In response to another question by Ling on whether there are plans by the government to set up a heart and cancer unit in Miri and Sibu Hospital as well as upgrade the two said hospitals into regional hospitals, Fadillah said among the discussions in STAR is to collaborate with the private hospital whereby there is already an agreement that the government and private practitioners work together to provide healthcare and look after the citizens’ health holistically.
“For instance, if there are less critical cases or the public hospital cannot attend to patients due to long queues, then the patients will be referred to the private hospital.
“The fee is negotiated and agreed upon with the government hospital. This might be a short-term solution while we build more hospitals based on districts and states’ needs for specialists,” he said.
