PETALING JAYA: There is only so much that private hospitals can do to help reduce the government’s burden of dealing with Covid-19 patients.
Association of Private Hospitals Malaysia president Datuk Dr Kuljit Singh said only a small number of hospitals in the Klang Valley can provide the extra beds requested by the government.
“This is because we do not have the manpower needed to deal with a large number of Covid-19 cases.
“Even any increase in the number of beds that private hospitals can provide will only mean an incremental increase,” he told theSun.
Kuljit said complicating the issue further, private hospitals only have a small number of specialists who can look after Covid-19 patients. Those in intensive care require a huge number of staff, which private hospitals do not have.
Equipment need to be monitored around the clock to detect any small changes.
The staff will then be required to make adjustments either to machines or medications, he said.
“We will need to provide an isolated ward to deal with stage two or three Covid-19 patients so that other patients are not infected.
“We do not have a lot of space for such wards. It must be remembered that private hospitals are not designed to deal with pandemics.”
Kuljit said private hospitals are willing to help the government where they can, even by providing them with staff, if need be.
He said for example, private hospitals provided the government with 75 ventilators costing more than RM6 million last year.
Health Director-General Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said in a letter dated May 20 to private hospitals, that the Health Ministry needed the cooperation of private hospitals following an increase in the number of Covid patients.
Private hospitals currently treating Covid patients must add more beds for the patients in the wards and intensive care units. (ICU).
The maximum number of beds to be allocated for Covid-19 patients is based on ward and ICU capacity, he added.
Noor Hisham said in a letter posted by the Health Ministry’s Private Medical Practice Control Section Twitter account on Thursday, the allocation of beds must be in accordance with the capabilities of private hospitals and must not affect the quality of healthcare given to patients.
Kuljit said the best option at the moment is for the government to have more Covid-19 hospitals before the situation gets out of control.
“It will be easier for private hospitals to treat normal patients as we have all the necessary facilities. We also agreed on the payment mechanism, now we are only waiting for patients to be referred to us.”
He said with private hospitals taking on the burden of dealing with non-Covid patients, government hospitals will have extra space to treat Covid patients.
