THE government and public hospitals must be transparent about problems with the lack of medical supplies and equipment they need to battle the Covid-19 pandemic, instead of sweeping issues under the carpet, Selangor lawmakers and councillors said.

If a true picture of the situation is given, assemblymen and local councils will have no issues extending resources of their own, they said.

While individual doctors post frustrations over their particular situation in hospitals, official statements from the authorities downplay the reality and insist everything is under control, creating a confusing picture amid a public health crisis.

Assemblymen and local councillors told The Malaysian Insight they continue to receive complaints from Covid-19 patients or their family members about the problems in Klang Valley hospitals, including reports about patients dying while waiting for an ambulance or a bed.

Klang Municipal Council (MPK) councillor Lee Fu Haw cited Hospital Tengku Ampuan Rahimah (HTAR) as an example, where the director had told the media the facility had enough supplies.

However, according to a complaint received, a patient at the hospital was asking her family to send over cardboard for her to sit on the floor, as HTAR had run out of beds, and even chairs.

“The patient, a mother, was informed that there was no bed available and was asked to sit on the floor while waiting.

“The mother was told by another patient that this was the state of affairs, the other patient himself had been sitting and sleeping on the floor for the previous two days.

“There are not enough beds and chairs in the hospital. From these details, we know how serious the actual situation is,” Lee said.

He said the above account was conveyed to him by a volunteer disinfection team who had gone to the home of the first patient’s family.

Lee said he now doubts the hospital director’s statement because feedback from patients paints a different picture.

He urged the hospital and the Ministry of Health to be transparent, and to work with the local authorities.

“The city council has a lot of vacant auditoriums, which can be used as a transit centre for patients with mild Covid-19 symptoms. Non-profit groups are also willing to help if the government expresses the need.

“It is necessary for both the ruling and opposition parties, as well as civil society organisations, to fight this pandemic together,” Lee said.

Sri Kembangan assemblyman Ean Yong Hian Wah said patients at Serdang Hospital should not be made to sleep on the floor if the ministry has said that arrangements for tents and new beds have been made.

He also received complaints about a lack of food, bedsheets and oxygen, plus long waits for a bed.

Complaints about food ranged from no breakfast for four days, to dinners delivered after 8.30pm or 9pm.

Yong said hospitals in the Klang Valley, where Covid-19 infections and deaths are the highest, are in a dire situation because of a lack of long-term strategy by the government.

He also urged the ministry to simplify procurement procedures so supplies for Covid-19 patients can be obtained quickly.

“It’s a time of emergency, you have to use a different method and not the usual method.

“This problem could have been solved more than a year ago, it’s not as if the pandemic just started in the past two weeks .

“There has been more than a year given for our government to plan, but they have not done a good job, more taken it lightly,” Ean Yong said.

Meanwhile, Teratai assemblyman Bryan Lai spoke of the problems a shortage of ambulances can cause.

Deaths can result from positive cases where the condition of the patient deteriorates suddenly while in quarantine at home.

“There was an elderly man who had difficulty in breathing, but he waited for two hours in vain after contacting the hospital.

“He fell into a coma and died after the hospital hired a private ambulance,” Lai said.

He said it was unacceptable for deaths to happen due to a shortage of ambulances and beds, and called for “outside the box” measures, such as using other government-owned vehicles.

“Many government departments and agencies have vans, which are idle now under the movement control order (MCO).

“They can be modified a little to be used to transport patients, rather than to sit in parking lots,” Lai said.

His Teratai service centre has modified two cars, a multi-purpose vehicle (MPV) and a van specifically for the purpose of transporting Covid-19 patients to hospitals.

These basic modifications include covering the car seats with plastic wrap and installing a protective screen to separate the driver from the passengers. Drivers must also wear a mask and protective gear.

“People just have to know where to turn to for help. My modified vehicles are better than nothing.

“Our volunteers are all ordinary folk who just want to do their best to help because they don’t see the government taking action. So we brainstorm things we can do, while the government makes excuses,” Lai said.

Lai also urged the government to consider turning more budget hotels into quarantine centres for mild or asymptomatic patients whose homes are not suitable for self-quarantine.

People in such situations usually live in families of five or more people, cramped in a small flat.

“It is difficult for them to quarantine because the flat only has two rooms and everyone shares a toilet,” Lai said, adding that his constituency had such cases.

“If quarantine costs can be reduced for budget hotels used as quarantine centres to less than RM100 per night, then MPs and non-profit groups can assist in placing these people there,” Lai said.

In the case of HTAR, Health Minister Dr Adham Baba visited the facility on July 29 and promised more specialists, oxygen and respiratory equipment.

He was accompanied by Klang MP Charles Santiago, who urged the minister to fulfil his promise within two weeks. – August 3, 2021.