I would like to highlight the following case (No 462705) relating to the Kuala Lumpur Hospital (HKL). In fact, this e-mail has already been sent to the health minister and the head of the hospital's neuro ward.

My mother was warded at Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Kota Kinabalu on March 13, 2003 for suspected aneurysm (an abnormal artery found in the brain).

I was informed by the senior medical officer that my mother's condition was very serious and warranted an operation that would improve her chances for survival. In the meantime, I was told to be prepared for the worst as - until the operation was done - the aneurysm could burst with fatal results.

As Queen's does not have a neurosurgery facility, she needed to be transfered to HKL. On March 18, she was sent to KL. Prior to the journey, I was again informed by the accompanying doctor that the cabin pressure could trigger problems.

However, all went well and she was admitted to HKL where she was sent for another CT scan. Nothing further was done until March 28, when she was sent for an angiogram to confirm her condition and then assigned to the neuro ward.

Her condition was very critical and an urgent operation to clip the defective artery needed to be done to improve her chances of survival.

For the first three weeks of her stay in HKL, she was bedridden. Despite complaints of headaches, she was jovial and independent, and did most things herself with minimal assistance.

However she was very restless and kept inquiring about her operation date. After pestering the doctor, I was informed that my mother was in the emergency list for April 9. After waiting until noon that day, she was told that her operation was cancelled.

The doctor assigned to my mother's ward later said her operation would be done the next day.

At about 9am, she was finally wheeled to the operating room. She talked cheerfully to the two nurses accompanying her, telling them that they were like Tuhan (God) as they could help people get better.

After about half an hour, the surgeon told my mother that her operation had been put on hold as there were no beds in the ICU. On hearing that, my mother was distraught and unhappy. The surgeon added that he would to try to reschedule the operation the same day if possible.

My mother said she minded having to fast the whole day and hoped that the operation could be done the same day. She was than wheeled back to the normal ward and one of the nurses tried to make her happy by washing her hair.

At noon, my mother was informed that her operation was cancelled. From that point, she was very stressed. I kept asking the doctor whether an alternative operation date has been set, without success.

Despite doctors telling me that undue pressure or stress could lead to the aneurysm bursting, which could be critical, no doctor came to console her.

On April 11, at about 9.30pm, she suffered a fit. She stopped breathing at about 9:45 pm. I was told about this at about 10pm. The doctor and the nurses manage to revive her and put her on breathing apparatus.

She was send for a CT scan and the doctor confirmed a burst artery and said they would need to do a life-saving operation to drain the blood and water from the brain.

The hospital might as well have allowed her to stay in Kota Kinabalu, where there would have been family members by her side.

Finally at 5:50pm on April 12, my mother - who less that 24 hours ago was happily talking to me - was gone. I was at her bedside when she was confirmed dead due to a rupture of the cerebral aneurysm.

Why was she wheeled into the operating room, when there was no bed available in the ICU? Don't the surgeons know about this in advance? Why didn't the doctors console her when she was so unhappy? Was poor management of the hospital a contributing factor in her death?

My mother was left untreated for almost a month until her passing. How a surgeon could instruct her to be wheeled into the operation room, within half an hour or so cancel the operation and then do nothing is beyond comprehension.