Relatives, family members and friends of former Kedah MB, Datuk Seri Azizan Abdul wait at the entrance to Hospital Pulau Pinang's critical care unit.Former Kedah Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Azizan Abdul Razak in Penang General Hospital's critical care unit.
Former Kedah Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Azizan Abdul Razak has been admitted to the Penang General Hospital in Penang.
The Sungai Limau assemblyman was initially warded at the Kedah Medical Centre (KMC) for infection on both of his legs on Monday before his care was referred to the Penang General Hospital the following day at about 4pm.
At press time, the veteran politician was still being treated at the hospital’s coronary care unit.
Pas vice president Datuk Mafuz Omar says Azizan is now in coma and is being treated at the hospital's CCU unit. He asks for everyone to pray for his fast recovery and for strength for his family.
Patients are forced to test their patience as they wait to see the doctor
QUEUE: The long wait ahead for medicine is a daily occurrence
DATUK DR IKRAM SHAH: We can't simply add more beds without a corresponding increase in our staff nurses
TICK-TOCK: Patients have to wait to be warded
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TWELVE hours – that's how long some patients have to wait to be warded at the University Malaya Medical Centre (UMMC).
And this is despite having already been scheduled for surgery.
This sorry state of affairs has placed the hospital in a vulnerable position – it is receiving brickbats from patients and the public, with one patient claiming he had to wait almost 12 hours to be warded. He was supposed to undergo surgery the next day.
When The Malay Mail visited UMMC, we discovered the hospital suffers from two pressing problems - it lacks beds, and nurses.
Currently, there are 1,126 beds available at the hospital but only 925 can be used because there are not enough nurses to man operations at full capacity.
“We can't simply add more beds without a corresponding increase in our staff nurses. At the moment, we have 1,600 permanent staff nurses but we need another 400 more,” UMMC director Datuk Dr Ikram Shah told The Paper That Cares.
He said UMMC had asked for the extra nurses two years ago but the Public Service Department had apparently postponed the allocation.
Chai Mui Lee holding her daughter, Teo Cai Wai, who needs RM40,000 to undergo heart surgery.
It was smooth sailing for Chai Mui Lee during her first year of motherhood.
However, the 34 year old had been living a nightmare in the past few months because her 19-month-old toddler had poor appetite and was often panting while being fed.
Teo Cai Wai has also barely grown compared with other children her age as she weighs only 6kg.
Chai took her daughter to Sultanah Aminah Hospital in Johor Baru for a check-up and initially, doctors diagnosed her as having a feeding problem.
After their second trip to the hospital, Teo was referred to Gleaneagles Kuala Lumpur and was diagnosed as having congenital heart defect with two holes in her heart.
"I was speechless when the doctor told me and my husband that our baby will not be able to have a normal life without surgery."
Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Ismail Omar, who was warded on Friday, is recovering well.
Deputy Inspector-General of Police Datuk Khalid Abu Bakar, who disclosed this yesterday, said the IGP needed a good rest.
“He has gone through all the necessary checks but nothing is wrong with him. In fact, he went for a jog around the hospital this morning,’’ he told reporters at the Selangor police contingent headquarters yesterday.
“Actually there was no need for Ismail to be warded. I was the one who told the doctor to make the boss stay there so that he could rest,” he said.
Khalid said Ismail had given him a lot of instructions through SMS.
Ismail was admitted to Pantai Hospital in Kuala Lumpur after he was reported to be feeling unwell while attending the monthly assembly in Bukit Aman.
: The country’s first baby hatch in a hospital has begun operation.
Located in KPJ Ipoh Specialist Hospital at Jalan Raja di-Hilir here, the hatch was launched by state senior executive councillor Datuk Hamidah Osman yesterday.
Hospital chief executive officer Nasirruddin Harun said the programme was part of its corporate social responsibility.
“The baby hatch is aimed at saving the lives of innocent newborns who are not wanted by their parents,” he said.
Victim Tan Khai Yien 29 and Datuk Michael Chong showing the x-ray during the press conference at Michael Chong office this morning.
Tan Khai Yien has had to live with a nut at her spinal area for a year after a doctor at a private hospital in Kuala Lumpur accidentally dropped it during surgery following a car accident.
A private hospital here left a nut in a woman’s body during spine surgery with metal implants using nuts and bolts last year.
"I am disappointed with the negligence and irresponsibility of the doctor in treating my injury," Tan Khai Yien, 29, told a press conference at the MCA Public Complaints Department today.
Relating her experience, Tan said she underwent surgery to treat a spine injury in October 2008 after she was involved in a car accident.
"After the surgery, the orthopaedic surgeon informed me that a nut had accidentally fallen into the operated area, very close to my spine where the metal implant was placed," she said.
"However, the surgeon assured me that the nut is not harmful and can be removed together with the fixture of the metal implant a year later without complications," she said, showing her x-rays and CT scan to reporters.
In October, a day before Tan’s scheduled surgery to remove the metal implant, the surgeon claimed that the fallen nut, which has shifted from its original position, could not be removed as it is located very close to a blood vessel.
Only the metal implant was removed while the fallen nut remained in around her spine.
"The doctor told us there was nothing else he could do. When my family and I said it was his mistake and he had given an assurance to remove it, he refused to do so," Tan said.
"When we said we could take legal action against him and the hospital, the doctor said we could go ahead and sue him but we will only be wasting our time."
Dissatisfied with the orthopaedic surgeon’s response, Tan sought a second opinion at Gleneagles Hospital here and was advised to undergo surgery to remove the nut.
"The doctor, who asked me to do a CT scan, said the nut is only 1cm away from my blood vessel and since it is moving in that area, it may very harmful to me later on," she said.
"We did not know who to turn to after the surgeon washed his hands over the case, so we sought MCA’s help and spoke to Datuk Michael Chong," she added.
Chong said Tan’s family is considering legal action against the doctor and the hospital but a decision can only be made after Tan’s operation, scheduled tomorrow, to remove the nut.
He added that he will raise the matter with the health minister.
