Saturday, December 03, 2005
GREEDY HOSPITALS - Ministry has no power to act
Reports By P. SELVARANI
KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 3: The Malay Mail
The Health Ministry is powerless to act against private hospitals and clinics that deny emergency treatment to patients in need.
The Private Healthcare Facilities and Services Act 1998 does not provide the Ministry with enforcement power to bring errant hospitals and clinics to book.
This is because regulations proposed under the Act have yet to be approved, despite the Government talking about it since 1998.
This makes a mockery of last Wednesday’s Cabinet directive that the licences of private hospitals be suspended or revoked, if they fail to give emergency treatment to needy patients.
Health Minister Datuk Dr Chua Soi Lek admitted as much that the Ministry’s hands are tied at the moment.
“We are powerless to act as the existing Act does not give us the enforcement bite,” he told The Malay Mail yesterday, following criticisms by the Federation of Malaysian Consumers Association (Fomca) that the Ministry stop issuing warnings to private hospitals and act on its word instead.
The Malay Mail yesterday reported that Fomca secretary-general Muhd Shaani Abdullah had criticised the Ministry for “continuing to issue warnings” to private hospitals, despite ample proof that some of them had ignored the warnings.
Dr Chua stressed that there is very little the Ministry could do at the moment, until proposed regulations made under the new Act are approved.
“The regulations are not ready. The Attorney-General’s Chambers is still going through the final draft.
“That is why we requested special consideration from the Cabinet to endorse these regulations, in the light of recent cases that have been highlighted,” he said.
He was, however, unable to say when the draft would be finalised and the regulations approved.
“You would have to check with the Attorney-General’s Chambers but we are pushing for it to be completed as soon as possible,” he said.
Despite this, Dr Chua has instructed the Ministry’s deputy director-general Datuk Dr Abdul Gani Mohammed Din to investigate the allegation made by the family of Khairul Anuar Salim, that the Pantai Indah Medical Centre in Pandan Indah had denied the boy emergency treatment until his situation took a turn for the worse — all because they had not paid the RM5,000 deposit.
Meanwhile, a spokesman for the medical centre said they had submitted a report on the incident to the Ministry on Thursday.
KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 3: The Malay Mail
The Health Ministry is powerless to act against private hospitals and clinics that deny emergency treatment to patients in need.
The Private Healthcare Facilities and Services Act 1998 does not provide the Ministry with enforcement power to bring errant hospitals and clinics to book.
This is because regulations proposed under the Act have yet to be approved, despite the Government talking about it since 1998.
This makes a mockery of last Wednesday’s Cabinet directive that the licences of private hospitals be suspended or revoked, if they fail to give emergency treatment to needy patients.
Health Minister Datuk Dr Chua Soi Lek admitted as much that the Ministry’s hands are tied at the moment.
“We are powerless to act as the existing Act does not give us the enforcement bite,” he told The Malay Mail yesterday, following criticisms by the Federation of Malaysian Consumers Association (Fomca) that the Ministry stop issuing warnings to private hospitals and act on its word instead.
The Malay Mail yesterday reported that Fomca secretary-general Muhd Shaani Abdullah had criticised the Ministry for “continuing to issue warnings” to private hospitals, despite ample proof that some of them had ignored the warnings.
Dr Chua stressed that there is very little the Ministry could do at the moment, until proposed regulations made under the new Act are approved.
“The regulations are not ready. The Attorney-General’s Chambers is still going through the final draft.
“That is why we requested special consideration from the Cabinet to endorse these regulations, in the light of recent cases that have been highlighted,” he said.
He was, however, unable to say when the draft would be finalised and the regulations approved.
“You would have to check with the Attorney-General’s Chambers but we are pushing for it to be completed as soon as possible,” he said.
Despite this, Dr Chua has instructed the Ministry’s deputy director-general Datuk Dr Abdul Gani Mohammed Din to investigate the allegation made by the family of Khairul Anuar Salim, that the Pantai Indah Medical Centre in Pandan Indah had denied the boy emergency treatment until his situation took a turn for the worse — all because they had not paid the RM5,000 deposit.
Meanwhile, a spokesman for the medical centre said they had submitted a report on the incident to the Ministry on Thursday.
