MoH's relocation exercise leaves Selayang Hospital understaffed, patients at risk, says report

A government hospital in Selangor is expected to lose about 120 medical officers as part of a nationwide relocation exercise this month, leaving its already-understaffed obstetrics and gynaecology (O&G) department with just 35% of the recommended quota for such services and triggering concern over patient safety, health news website CodeBlue reports. 

According to the report, there should be 40 medical officers at Selayang Hospital's O&G department. However, it has been running with just 21. 

The health ministry's relocation exercise now means that seven of the department's O&G medical officers will be transferred out, leaving only 14 to manage critical services including the labour room complex, operating theatres, gynaecology ward and clinic. 

This, the report said, was nearly three times lower than the recommended number of officers for the department. 

CodeBlue quoted a senior doctor at the department as saying that the quota had in fact never been reached. 

"All this while, we've had to cope with 20-over officers. The most we had was 30 medical officers," the doctor was reported as saying.

He also warned that the further reduction in numbers would lead to "a total disaster". 

"Fourteen medical officers to cover the entire department is illogical."

The report said that following the exercise, the department's clinic which attends to about 150 patients a day on weekdays would be left with only three medical officers.

"If there are 150 patients and only three medical officers, that means one medical officer will have to see 50 patients in a day. 

"I don’t know how things will go. Maybe the last patient will be seen at 9pm, if the patient is still willing to wait," another doctor was quoted as saying. 

CodeBlue earlier reported that over 900 senior medical officers from Selangor and Kuala Lumpur were expected to leave their posts by the end of July, with Hospital Kuala Lumpur (HKL) alone expected to lose 300 as part of the health ministry's relocation exercise. 

It also cited a source at HKL as saying that it would likely receive just 100 medical officers from placements through the government's eHousemen system, leaving the hospital short of 200. 

Its report today said that Selayang Hospital was not included as an eHousemen placement option, meaning that while more than 4,100 medical officers would be up for permanent placements, none of them would go to the hospital.