THE Health Ministry is reviewing the standard operating procedure (SOP) of bringing psychiatric patients to health facilities for treatment.

Health director-general Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said this matter is important as it involves the safety of other patients who are on the same premises.

He said among the SOPs to be streamlined are the process of bringing psychiatric patients for treatment and while these patients wait for treatment to be given.

“What we notice is that psychiatric patients become agitated in public places and can react by doing anything,” he told a press conference after attending the Global Surgery Initiative Programme at the Subang Jaya Medical Centre today.

“So we need to see which process or SOP needs to be streamlined so that when these patients come in for treatment, we will know where to place them during the whole process.”

Noor Hisham said this when asked about the incident involving a psychiatric patient, being escorted by police to receive treatment, who stabbed a man at Selayang Hospital yesterday.

He said such incidents could happen anywhere and overcrowding in the hospital’s emergency department was not the main reason. – Bernama, February 15, 2023.