Minister Admits Weaknesses In Sungai Petani Hospital

KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 15 (Bernama) -- Health Minister Datuk Dr Chua Soi Lek Thursday admitted that there were several weaknesses in the handling of new births at the Sungai Petani Hospital, leading to three cases of mishandling reported (HSP) in a matter of three months.
He said the ministry had reviewed the procedures at HSP and had found weaknesses in the handling of new births and that efforts were being made to rectify the situation.
"There were doctors and specialists who were not very committed in carrying out examinations as soon as the babies were born. We will investigate why only a day or two later did they do such checks," he said at a press conference held for the forthcoming 2005 Lantern Festival.
MCA president, Datuk Seri Ong Ka Ting is scheduled to launch the festival at Sungai Wang Plaza here on Saturday.
Referring to the latest case at HSP, Dr Chua said it was not acceptable for the sex of a baby to be recorded as "doubtful" when a check could have been done instantly.
He said the ministry understood if the doctors concerned were unable to do the necessary checks immediately if they had been called to attend to handle an emergency, but it was certainly not reasonable if an examination to determine the sex of a baby had to take two days.
In the latest case a couple, Ahmad Hassan, 58, and Fazrina Md Daud, 31, alleged that their baby, born with the aid of a Caesarean section on Sept 7 and weighing 2.75 kilogrammes, had its sex categorised as "doubtful" in the birth registration form and only after three days later was it confirmed.
On the late apology by HSP to the couple involved, Dr Chua said he was still not satisfied, as there had not been much improvement at the hospital though it had hit the headlines for two other cases prior to this.
The first involved a baby which went missing from the hospital's infant ward on June 19 and in the second on Aug 27, a couple alleged that there had been a mix up when their baby boy was switched with that of a girl.
Dr Chua said HSP "has become very famous for the wrong reasons" and that action would be taken to ensure such incidents did not repeat.
"The ministry sympathises with the victims for the ordeals they were put through. The question now is how are we going to overcome the weaknesses prevalent there," he said.
He also declined to disclose the type of action that would be taken against the personnel responsible, only saying that internal investigations were being carried out.