Many of them were saying they felt at a loss. They had been told the hospital budget had run so low that, over several weeks, treatment had been suspended for many common illnesses because there was “no more budget” to buy basic medicines.
Several patients reported that they had been forced to buy their own medicines in private pharmacies.
One patient said she had been asked to pay for a standard blood test to measure calcium, because the hospital laboratory had no more money to run the test.
According to a staff member, the hospital had suspended up to twenty different basic blood tests, including tests for the kidneys and liver function, thyroid hormones, and blood markers to detect heart attacks, over the past few weeks.
A patient told me that ‘non-emergency’ operations had been cancelled because of a lack of resources. One staff member said the hospital had run out of money to buy the inhaled gas medicine needed to make patients unconscious for surgery: the operating theatre had literally “run out of gas”.
Another care-giver said the operating theatre was also experiencing severe shortages of gloves, plastic tubes for giving drips, and even tubes that allowed patients to breathe when they were asleep during surgery. All the resources had to be saved for emergency operations.
As a result, a number of patients with cancer said they had had their cancer surgery postponed indefinitely. When the patients asked when their surgery would be done, they were unable to obtain a firm date, because it was unclear when a new budget would become available.
One patient said her doctor offered her an operation in Seremban instead of Johor Bahru.
A member of staff mentioned that such budget shortages are commonplace at the end of every year, in most government hospitals around the country.
But this year’s problems were particularly severe because of drastic budget cuts. The patients and staff were extremely unhappy, but apparently felt helpless.
I understand the hospitals must be facing a squeeze because of our national budget deficit. But is there not some way to ensure our resources are prioritised appropriately?
Can we not ensure some safeguard so that our government hospital patients are not put at risk, and forced to seek treatment or blood tests in private medical facilities? Many of the patients I saw on the ward were elderly and poor.
Why have our medical and nursing professions failed to speak up against these injustices? Why has our mass media failed to highlight these problems faced by ill patients?
Pagalavan's Avatar 
when the situation is so bad, why we are talking about sending 2nd astronaut to space and building 100 storey building. No one talks about this urgent situation because the rich politicians gets their treatment in private hospitals and overseas hospital while the poor left alone to die in helpless local government hospitals.
Good pls continue to support the govt. We need more tall buildings and astronaut.
Isn’t Malaysia a developed country?
Correct me if my source is wrong. I received news that the Pengarah Hospital JB is going to ‘transfer’ out because he refused a ‘request’ from royal family that a whole floor to be allocated to these VVIP? Is this one of the reason? means the pengarah vacancy is vacant?
I heard about it as well but I don’t think that’s the reason. No one will agree to that.
True. I am currently doing my 4th year medicine posting in the Hospital Sultanah Aminah. I can’t help worrying for the patients but I can’t do anything about it. Depressed and at the same time, disappointed!
The authorities should do something about this urgently!!
We need to enforce better Managed Care and promote Social Health Insurance/Private Health Insurance system.
There nothing to do with politicians or astronauts or 100 Storey Building.
Yes you are right but the government should concentrate on what is necessary first before wasting money on unnecessary projects which do not bring any long term benefit! Did being a space tourist bring any benefit to the country? Of course it has everything to do with politicians! They’re suppose to put in place a “health financing scheme” many years ago but due to political pressure of loosing elections (which is of more important to them), it has been delayed since the late nineties. Everything is politicised in Malaysia and that is the problem.
sometimes i just don’t understand why people driving BMW, earns about rm10k/month goes to public hospitals/clinics and just pay 1 ringgit.
the public hopsitals/clinics are for poor malaysian who could not afford treatment at columbia hospital.
what we need here is good healthcare policy with good national health insurance scheme.
IT”S has got nothing to do with building 100 tower and space tourist.
I think we should follow our neighbour: allow patients to use money from their EPF to pay their medical bills..
by this way the public hospitals will be sufficiently funded and there will be no issues in financial constraint.
I think because these people feel that it is their tax money
I am 67, male, an ex-govt servant Grade 48-Education. I used to have ‘some pain’ in my left back for some time. Being a pensioner, I went to the largest hospital in Perak. After Dr. after Dr. finally one smart Dr. referred me for x-ray then Ultra-sound and found out “something seriously wrong” to my left-side kidney. I was then referred to the Klinik Pakar .. almost 8 months after my 1st visit to the hospital!
This Urology clinic held on Tuesdays in the Unit Pakar is actually a utter nonsense and outright cheating process. First, they do NOT have even one Urologist. Just general surgeons and interns who just say the same thing again and again which normally an average patient ALREADY knows. To this one need to go there 2-weeks once and wait 5 hrs to listen the same rubbish in 3 mns. That is the standard of medical practice in this so called “Klinik Pakar” Urology clinic.
Finally I took the initiative to consult a Urologist in a private hospital who referred me to KL to get a Atomic Medicine study on Kidney function report ($400/-). I took this back to the Govt hospital at the next round. They were surprised and told me to wait for admission to the NATION’S referral centre on Urology matters…near Rawang.
Finally after a long 1 1/2 years, I was admitted to this Govt referral hospital.
This Urology unit is actually run by two doctors-one Indian and another Chinese. The boss is just an administrator and I am sure he would have forgotten his skills by now.
The unit is filled so many Dr.s most of whom is just fit to be ‘medical administrators’ and NOT fit for clinical work.
The mistake lies in Govt picking them and sending them for to become doctors at public expense.
I witnessed in person in ward where an elderly man was groaning in severe pain after treatment. He was continuously begging for a specialist to releive his pain. The Dr. in duty that day for that ward was called but HE NEVER CAME. Finally at 4 am that patient died. This episode is enough to demonstrate the ‘standard of care’ available in that referral hospital.
Finally, I voluntarilly discharged myself, got admitted in a private hospital in Ipoh and spent $12,000/- to recover from my ailment.
Our govt hospitals are already in the realm of 4th class world with 3rd class people to look after the sick. The whole scene is a utter rubbish. The gloves, catheters and even drips used there are 3rd class. I dare say that the gloves used during surgery is not sterile.
There are of course a sprinkle of dedicated Dr.s -most of them Is and Cs-still hanging on to the govt hospital. They are just plain ‘no-bodies’ and unless you have a link with them, then going and seeking treatment in govt hospital nowadays is a 50-50 matter. That means your probability of coming alive is only 50 %.
Where else this country is drifting to….. The British left this country on such a strong footing but at the end it had gone to the monkeys..