Chua: Clinics had no drips... nothing

NST: KUALA LUMPUR: Doctors at two clinics in Setapak declined to treat undergraduate Lee Kean Yip, 18, who bled to death nearby last month as they did not have drips.
Health Minister Datuk Dr Chua Soi Lek said they should have at least given first aid to the first-year Tunku Abdul Rahman College student.
"They had no drips... nothing. Would you like to be a bleeding accident victim and go to the nearest clinic where the doctor says he cannot treat you because he does not have drips?" he asked.
Dr Chua said this episode showed why the Private Healthcare Facilities and Services Act 1998 was needed. The legislation, which requires general practitioners to improve their clinics and have emergency equipment, is being snubbed by many doctors.
He said emergency equipment could comprise "very simple things such as drips and oxygen masks to very complicated things like that available in an Intensive Care Unit".
"We do not require them, however, to install anything complicated," he said.
Dr Chua said every practising doctor should be able to render first aid, including cardiopulmonary resuscitation.
Lee had been walking back to his rented room after supper when he was accosted by two men on a motorcycle, one of whom slashed him with a parang after he refused to hand over his wallet.
It was reported that passersby appealed to staff at the clinics to come and treat Lee but they declined stating that they did not have drips.
A partner at one of the clinics said that a couple informed his nurse that someone had been stabbed and was in critical condition.
A doctor on duty that night informed the couple that the clinic did not have facilities to handle such injuries but urged the couple to bring the youth for treatment.
"The doctor’s duty is inside the clinic and not outside. That is the policy. People should be aware of that regulation. We are not a mobile clinic," he said.

Meanwhile, Dr Chua assured doctors that their reservations over the Act would be looked into. This would be done in amendments to the Act which are on the drawing board.
The minister said he was aware that some aspects of the Act were no longer relevant and these would be removed.
He said the ministry was getting feedback from the public and stakeholders.
Dr Chua and Director-General of Health Tan Sri Dr Ismail Merican will meet Malaysian Medical Association officials on Aug 24 to discuss fine-tuning of the Act.
On claims by some doctors that the Act was draconian and appeared to criminalise them, he said this was untrue as "no law can touch them if they uphold good clinical practice and behave like professionals".
"They must understand that this law is meant to keep out the few black sheep," he said, appealing to doctors not to wait until the last minute to register their clinics with the ministry.
On concerns over the floor plan at clinics, Dr Chua said all that was required was a simple layout on the location of the doors, registration counter and emergency treatment room.
"The floor plan does not even have to be up to scale. Some doctors say they don’t even know how to draw a floor plan. I don’t know how to respond to this," he said.