Materia Medica Malaysiana

Emergency cases won’t be put on waiting list, says Chua

PETALING JAYA: Emergency cases which require neurosurgery will be given priority and will not be put on the waiting list, Health Minister Datuk Dr Chua Soi Lek said.
“Perhaps the patients may not get the place of their choice but they will be given priority in treatment,” he said.
He said another other way of dealing with critically-ill patients or emergency cases was to send the patients to private hospitals, through an arrangement between the Government and the private sector.
He added that private hospitals would charge a nominal fee for the arrangement.
Dr Chua was responding to a news report which said that a shortage of neurosurgeons in public hospitals had resulted in delays in operations on patients suffering from head injuries.
The report said that some patients had died while others suffered permanent head injuries due to the long wait for treatment.
“Of course there are shortages, but it is across all disciplines. There are even shortages of medical officers,” he told The Star.
Dr Chua said the way forward was not to set up more neurosurgery referral centres, but to train more medical personnel in the field, adding that there were 10 neurosurgeons in public hospitals while 18 were undergoing training.
He said another way was to improve the present health delivery system.
“This is why we are pushing forward with the National Healthcare Financing Scheme to have better integration of the public and private sectors,” he said.
Asked when the scheme could be implemented, Dr Chua said, the ministry was waiting for feedback from the consultant appointed to study the scheme's feasibility.
He could not confirm if the scheme could take off by the end of next year.