50,000 case backlog at govt hospitals

January 26, 2022

It would take around one year for government hospitals to clear its 50,000 backlog of surgical and medical procedures.

Association of Private Hospitals president Datuk Dr Kuljit Singh said the waiting time for lesser-complicated and serious cases could also be longer as hospitals, at times, need to prioritise critical ones.

He said this was where private hospitals would like to lend the government a hand by easing their burden in clearing case backlogs.

“We are not in this for money as we already have existing patients at our private hospitals. We are open to provide the necessary help to the government to clear the backlog.

“Our operation theatres, MRI or CT scanners are also available to be used for these patients. If the government wants it, we are more than happy to sit down with them and help,” Dr Kuljit said.

He said it was not necessary for the government to transfer all of the 50,000 backlogged procedures to private hospitals.

In citing a solution to the matter, he said the main consideration for government hospitals would be the types of cases that could be transferred to private hospitals.

He said the cost for complicated cases would be high, hence the government might not prefer to transfer such cases.

“But it is okay. We have no issues to settle cases which requires basic procedures or treatments. We understand all this depends on (the government’s) budget,” he said, adding that in the end, it was the people who would benefit the most.

He also said there were no extra charges that needed to be paid to private hospitals as these would be based on the referral system from government hospitals.

It was earlier reported that private hospitals in the country had pledged to help the government clear 50,000 backlogged surgical and medical procedures this year.

For this to be possible, the remaining patients who cannot be treated early at public hospitals can be transferred to private hospitals at reasonable reimbursements as what was done last year.

The Health Ministry had indicated that it was open to collaborate with the private hospitals.

A ministry said it will call for a discussion with the association on how best the two parties can work together.

Meanwhile, daily Covid-19 cases rose to 4,066 cases yesterday, after recording 3,214 cases on Monday.

This has pushed the country’s cases since the pandemic began to 2,840,225.

On Monday, 10 fatalities, including one brought-in-dead case, were recorded, raising the overall death toll to 31,902.

According to data from the Health Ministry’s CovidNow portal and Github, the highest number of fatalities was recorded in Selangor, with three deaths.

Sabah reported two deaths while Johor, Kedah, Kelantan, Melaka and Pahang recorded one death each.

In the past two weeks, five deaths per million people in Malaysia were recorded, with Terengganu recording the highest among the states with 11 deaths per million people.

Hospital bed utilisation showed four states above 70 per cent up to Monday. The highest bed usage was in Kedah and Melaka at 79.6 per cent.

Bed utilisation in Terengganu was 78.5 per cent, while in Johor it was 75.4 per cent.

Bed utilisation for Covid-19 patients in other states was between 33.7 and 69.7 per cent, with the national average at 63.8 per cent.

In terms of Intensive Care Unit (ICU) utilisation rates for Covid-19 cases, only Kuala Lumpur and Putrajaya were above the 80 per cent mark at 81.3 and 80 per cent

The rates at other states were between 33.1 per cent and 66.1 per cent, with the national average at 54.1 per cent.

Overall active Covid-19 cases were 45,208 after 3,116 recoveries were reported on Monday.

There were 37,772 people who were observing home quarantine, making up 83.6 per cent of the total active cases.

Ten per cent (4,528) of the patients were being treated at Covid-19 Quarantine and Treatment Centres, 6.1 per cent (2,762) were hospitalised and the remaining 0.3 per cent (146) were in ICUs with 65 requiring breathing aid.