Recruit more nurses, audit report says amid increasing workload

An increase in the number of healthcare workers, in particular nurses, was among the recommendations listed in the Auditor-General's Report for the Year 2021 Series 2 released today. 

According to the report, the health ministry, with the cooperation of the Public Services Department, must consider reinforcements to overcome the shortage of healthcare staff in view of an increasing workload, especially during the Covid-19 pandemic.

The recommendations followed an audit carried out in four public hospitals, which found that the recruitment of nursing positions was not equivalent to the requirements and had failed to comply with the recommended "level of care" ratio, particularly when taking into account the scope of services provided in the emergency and trauma department (ETD). 

The audit was conducted at Hospital Sungai Buloh, Hospital Raja Perempuan Zainab II (Kota Bharu), Hospital Tunku Jaafar (Seremban) and Hospital Tampin.
 
The positions at the four hospitals were filled by between seven and 62 nurses, and ETD nurse shortages ranged from 61.2% to 35.3%, according to the report.
 
It was also found that the number of nurses placed at the ICU during the pandemic period was insufficient, leading to them having to work overtime.

"The lack of nurses caused the level of patient care to be changed to a norm of three quarters (3:4) and the shift schedule had to be changed from two shifts to three.

"On average, each nurse would work more than 12 hours per day and work 'double duty' when there was a shortage of nurses due to quarantine leave," the report said.