PEOPLE going to hospitals are not all physically fit to walk up and down flights of steps. Thus, it should be a priority to keep all means of access to various parts and floors of hospitals in tip-top condition.

Unfortunately, this is not so at Penang Hospital.

The most convenient access to the nuclear medicine clinic is by lift No. 7 located in Block C. It is just beside the hospital entrance from Jalan Utama. The clinic is on the third level.

I had taken an elderly patient with some lung issue to the clinic on the appointed date. Poor guy, he had to walk up and then down two levels.

Checking with the staff manning the Covid-19 temperature scanning station outside the clinic whether there was any other lift that could be used, I was taken aback to hear that the lift has been out of order for more than a year and no other lift reaches that floor directly.  

Isn’t it the hospital’s priority to keep all the lifts functioning all the time?  

What is the function of the hospital’s board of visitors if they do not have the time to randomly drop by at the hospital incognito to look at things?

Or, doesn’t the director check randomly to look at things as this would keep those responsible for their respective jobs on their toes?

Any head of department is not “cekap” if he/she does not turun padang randomly, without announcement, at least once in a while to check on the performance of his staff.        

The Health Ministry should enquire why this lift has been left in a state of disrepair for so long. – January 31, 2021.

* Ravinder Singh reads The Malaysian Insight.

* This is the opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of The Malaysian Insight. Article may be edited for brevity and clarity.