Pray it never Happens in East Malaysia

How disturbingly tragic and sad to see an innocent little baby girl of one month losing her arm! A loss which was caused by unprofessional medical treatment in a modern day medical centre in the capital city, Kuala Lumpur!

Let's pray it will not happen here...The following article is borrowed from the blog Screenshots at http://www.jeffooi.com belonging to blogger Jeff Ooi ("Father of Malaysian Blogging"). It's a shockingly painful lesson for all Malaysians when the nation's public health care system has flaws in it as obviously seen in this case.

Yok Shan... In the hands of government doctors

Citing an example of doctors with unprofessional attitude, Health Minister Dr Chua Soi Lek said the specialist on call to treat the month-old Lai Yok Shan at the Tengku Ampuan Rahimah Hospital in Klang had failed to turn up to attend to her, causing her condition to deteriorate, and her left arm had to be eventually removed.

“You cannot possibly treat your patients over the phone. You must be physically present,” he said.

Via The Star:

Dr Chua said he had received complaints of doctors, including specialists, who failed to turn up at hospitals particularly during the nights although they were rostered to do so.

“I know it can be difficult to rush back to the hospital once you have had dinner and are at home with family members. But you know what is required of a doctor,” he said. [...]

Dr Chua said he had also received complaints from junior doctors that they were chided for calling the specialists for assistance at night.

“Sometimes, if the case was not serious, the specialists would scold the doctors doing their housemanship for disturbing them. That is not right,” he said.

Asked whether it was true that some doctors who were on call failed to turn up as they were working as locums elsewhere, Dr Chua said this was not true.

“That I can confirm. I know they don’t indulge in such things,” he told reporters

It seems what doctors and specialists among Screenshots readers -- namely neurolept, dr.strangelove, kahuna -- said about the system in this country holds water. Let's have more rational and intellectual conversations on this. Finding solutions rather than finger-pointing is a good direction.

But then again, unless there is stern action taken over the Yok Shan case, the Minister should know his talk is cheap, dirt cheap.