Sunday, Most Stressful Day For Health Director-General

ALOR STAR, Feb 6 (Bernama) -- Sunday is not a rest day for Health Director-General Datuk Dr Mohamad Ismail Merican but the most stressful day instead because he will spend every weekend reading hundreds of complaint letters received from "hospital clients".
And from reading the letters, he has concluded that most of them were due to communication problems between doctors and nurses and the patients and their families.
"Each Sunday, I read complain letters no matter where, at home and sometimes in the office... Each Sunday, a strong coffee helps," he told reporters after making a courtesy call on Kedah Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Mahdzir Khalid at his office, here Monday.
Mohamad Ismail said he welcomed letters of complaints because they could help the Health Ministry overcome problems in efforts to provide the best service and treatment to everyone.
Immediate action would be taken on each complaint, he said.
"Doctors and nurses must take an effort to explain to the patients their illness. Problems arise when the patients did not get satisfactory explanations and that was why they wrote letters. If they were informed in detail, the patients would not complain.
"To the patients, what's important is how you (doctors and nurses) treat me... That is why since I was made Director-General I emphasise on public relations.
"Even if the doctors are the best in the world but did not take an effort to give the necessary information to the patient, it serves no purpose," he said.
On new hospitals in Alor Star and Sungai Petani, Mohamad Ismail said they were expected to be operational this year even though the construction pace was slow due to problems faced by the contractors.
On a claim by rubber tapper Mohd Zainol Ismail that his wife, Normah Yub, died last Dec 13 because of power outage while she was undergoing hemodialysis treatment at the Baling Hospital on Nov 21, Mohamad Ismail said a probe by the Kedah Health Department found that the claim was untrue.
He said the Baling Hospital was equipped with a support generator and an uninterrupted power system.
So, if power supply was cut off, the hemodialysis machine used by Normah would still be functional, he said.
"We firmly hold to the principle that everything that needs to be done had been done on the patient. The Baling Hospital has also explained it to Mohd Zainol," he said.
If Mohd Zainol still wants to sue, the Health Ministry could not do anything, he said.