Ministry seeks answers for ambulance delay

NST: GEORGE TOWN: The Health Ministry wants to know why the ambulances at Kepala Batas Hospital had run out of petrol, possibly costing a 31-year-old woman her life.
The ministry has begun investigating the tragedy after it was highlighted by the New Straits Times on Friday.
State Health Committee chairman P. K. Subbaiyah said the hospital director briefed the ministry about the incident following the newspaper report.
"I understand officials will be going to the hospital soon to conduct a thorough investigation and find out what happened there," he said yesterday.
Subbaiyah said he had been briefed about the case by the Kepala Batas Hospital director Dr Mohamad Sabri Othman following the report.
Factory worker Ghafur Mohd Ibrahim had that said his wife Yusnita Abas’ death could have been avoided if she had received prompt treatment.
Ghafur said Yusnita developed a severe headache and went to Kepala Batas Hospital for treatment about 1pm last Oct 10. He said no one attended to her till 6pm when she lapsed into semi-consciousness.
She was rushed to the Seberang Jaya Hospital for a CT scan, where it was found that she had a blood clot in the brain, and needed to be sent to Penang Hospital for treatment.
The ambulance driver said he had to take her back to Kepala Batas first, because his ambulance could not make the trip from Seberang Jaya to Penang.
Ghafur said they were in for another shock. When they arrived back at Kepala Batas, none of the ambulances had petrol, and more precious time was wasted in going to get some.
He said the shocking state of affairs was confirmed by Dr Mohamad in a letter dated March 2.
Ghafur said no one had contacted him since.