KELANTAN hospitals are seeking to be shariah-compliant under the Health Ministry (MOH), said its state health director Zaini Hussin.

He said their current operations do not involve gender separation between staff and patients due to the lack of staff but patients are still allowed to perform prayers.

“Right now we can’t have it (gender segregation).

“Shariah-compliant operations have been carried out for a long time under the Hospital Mesra Ibadah concept according to the MOH, “ he told The Malaysian Insight.

Currently there are about 10 hospitals under MOH which are certified as Ibadah Friendly Hospitals (IFH) for providing facilities and services for patients to perform prayers while receiving treatment.

The hospital are Sultanah Nur Zahirah Hospital in Terengganu, Serdang Hospital, Shah Alam Hospital in Selangor, Taiping Hospital and Teluk Intan Hospital in Perak.

The other five hospitals are Sultanah Bahiyah Hospital in Kedah, Penang Hospital, Sultanah Nora Ismail Hospital in Batu Pahat, Pontian Hospital in Johor and the National Cancer Institute in Putrajaya.

Zaini said that sharia-compliant operations for hospitals in Kelantan have yet to be recognised.

He said efforts are being carried out for at least one hospital in Kelantan to receive the IFH certification next year.

“Discussions and planning with the state Islamic religious affairs officer and also representatives from each hospital for IFH certification is being actively carried out in order to achieve the target in 2024,” he said.

Zaini said through the implementation of worship-friendly operations, patients will be helped and guided to perform their prayers, as required by Islam.

He said hospital staff will inform patients about prayer times, in addition to celebrating important days in the Islamic calendar.

“We also provide a prayer room for patients and relatives in the ward,” he said.

The hospital will also place an Islamic religious affairs officers, an ustaz and ustazah, at Kelantan hospitals in the Raja Perempuan Zainab Hospital, Tanah Merah Hospital and Sultan Ismail Petra Hospital.

Kelantan has nine hospitals supported by a total of 15,000 health workers in clinics and district health offices.

Director of Universiti Malaysia Kelantan (UMK) Health Center Dr Ikram Rauhi Che Ibrahim said there is a difference between a shariah-compliant hospital and normal hospital.

He said that normal hospitals have a special room and comfortable worship facilities, for example a place to perform ablution.

“Some are improved with better comfort and easier access,” he said.

However, he said shariah-compliant hospitals are broader in concept and require MS 1900 Syariah Compliant Hospital (HPS) certification, which was introduced since 2014.

He said the Sultan Ahmad Shah Medical Centre at the International Islamic University of Malaysia (UIAM) in Kuantan as well as the Terendak Angkatan Tentera Hospital in Malacca and the An-Nur Specialist Hospital in Bangi as examples of sharia-compliant hospitals.

Kelantan Amanah Women’s chief, Dr Hafidzah Mustakim said shariah-compliant operations should not only feature gender separation between nurses and patients.

“It includes all aspects of operations including the selection process of health workers and staff up to the process of treatment and buying and selling of medicines as well as treatment charges and payments.”

Asked about the feasability of hospitals in Kelantan to operate in a syariah-compliant manner, Hafidzah said it could be implemented with careful planning.

“The principle of shariah compliance can still be implemented,” he said.

She also questioned the status of the construction of a shariah-compliant women’s and children’s hospital in Kelantan, a state government project worth RM100 million that was announced in 2018.

She said the Kelantan government had failed to complete the hospital in 2022.

“The state government should explain the current status of this project.” – March 10, 2023.