Putrajaya Hospital Being Abused By VIPs, Says Chua

KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 14 (Bernama) -- Health Minister Datuk Dr Chua Soi Lek said today the Putrajaya Hospital is being abused by people claiming to be Very Important Persons (VIPs) and demanding "special treatment" when they seek consultation.
He said that based on complaints by the hospital's medical officers, some of the doctors had been receiving four to five VIPs daily, who insisted on being seen by a doctor for outpatient treatment without following the usual procedure.
"There are people who claim they are VIPs, they cut queue, they don't want to be registered and they want to be seen straightaway. That's the issue. So the issue of VIP should not arise. The issue is that they don't follow the right procedure as a patient," he said.
These people had caused problems not only for the doctors but also for other patients who had been waiting for their turn, he said.
"According to our clients' charter, all patients should be treated equally on clinical consideration, except in an emergency," he told reporters after launching a course module noble values at counter services here.
Asked whom he meant by VIPs, Dr Chua said: "Because Putrajaya is located in the administrative centre there are a lot of ministries, ministers, deputy ministers and VVIPs, so they demand priority.
He said the VVIPs should be aware that there were patients waiting for the same doctor at the outpatient clinic.
Asked whether VIPs should get "special treatment," Chua said they would be treated equally, except for emergency cases.