MOH committed to resolving emergency department issues - Dr Zaliha

Health Minister Dr Zaliha Mustafa said this is due to the different challenges faced by each emergency department.

She said during a recent visit to an emergency department at a large quaternary hospital, the ministry's team found that the frontline staff were struggling because patients who were supposed to be admitted were stuck in the emergency department.

"Delays in admissions have an adverse domino effect. What is being done (by the ministry includes) acknowledgement of the scale of the problem and the physical and mental fatigue faced by staff and patients on the ground.

"(Also) internal discussion and direction regarding staffing, opening up of more beds, (and) empowering leadership on the ground," she said in a Twitter thread today.

Dr Zaliha said many issues were inherited and systemic, but some can be tackled locally with sufficient engagement.

She said many frontliners have worked beyond the call of duty during the pandemic and continue to do so as the healthcare system faces a tsunami of non-communicable diseases (NCD).