Sabah Health Department clarifies that a person resting in Queen Elizabeth Hospital’s lobby is not a patient awaiting treatment but a visitor.
KOTA KINABALU: An individual sleeping or resting in the lobby of Queen Elizabeth Hospital here who went viral recently on social media was not a patient waiting for treatment at the Emergency and Trauma Department (ETD).
The Sabah Health Department said that such individuals usually are visitors, relatives or guardians from out of the district and interior who faced difficulties finding temporary accommodation outside the hospital, and noted that the hospital had a visitor area, but the facility could not cope with the high number of visitors.
“The hospital understands the situation and difficulties faced by the relatives of patients, especially those who come from far away,” the department said in a statement today.
It added that the hospital would continue to monitor the use of public spaces such as lobbies and main walkways to ensure safety, cleanliness and comfort and ease of movement by patients, relatives and hospital staff.
The department also explained that patients in the ETD were treated based on the degree of emergency based on the triage system and not merely according to order number, with critical cases getting immediate priority, while at night the ETD service carries on as usual with the continuous presence of patients.
The department also said it has taken note that the parking facilities at the hospital could be limited at certain times and would continue to monitor the traffic flow and parking management to reduce congestion.
As an improvement measure, the hospital will increase monitoring in lobbies, public walkways and waiting areas at night, coordinate all information about canteen operations, and increase communication with patients and their relatives about the waiting process and priority of treatment at the ETD.
