The Ipoh Hospital website has this mission message: "It is hoped with the establishment of this site will draw more awareness about the quality service provided by the Hospital to the public and fu(r)ther increase information about Hospitals in Perak and Malaysia as a whole."

There is no argument that quality medical care is being provided by Ipoh Hospital and the other hospitals in this country. What may be missing at times is the human and humane aspects of hospital care.

For Ipoh Hospital, as in many other hospitals of this country, there are too few medical and paramedical staff catering to too many patients, who at times can be over-demanding. One only need to sit for a day in the Jabatan Pesakit Luar (now known as Community Polyclinic Greentown) to see the work that is going on.

A doctor there together with his/her auxiliary staff attend to some 80-100 outpatients for eight hours per- day, spending an average of five minutes per-patient. Patients who need more time would inevitably result in a delay.

Unlike the director-general of medical and health services, I am not as sceptical of the results of a recent survey conducted by the head of the Ipoh hospital health promotion unit on hospital staff. The so-called 'shocking' results were as follows :

1) 20 percent of surveyed staff felt that they need to smile while on duty.

2) 60 percent felt they should not be friendly to patients.

3) 65 percent felt that patients' complaints were false.

4) 93 percent felt communication among the staff was bad.

5) 70 percent would complain if their colleagues took emergency or medical leave.

6) 31 percent were friendly to each other.

7) 45 percent greeted their colleagues in the same department.

8) 70 percent say that their co-workers were willing to help them, but only half of them were willing to do the same.

9) 20 percent would share patients' secrets with their colleagues.

10) 100 percent would discuss their own problems with their superiors, this being the only 100 percent!

Now, what do the survey results indicate, my interpretation is that the staff of Ipoh Hospital, at the least those who responded to the survey (only 60 percent or so did), are under tremendous work pressure, are an unhappy lot, mostly unfriendly even to each other and definitely under tremendous mental stress.

Faced with such stress, can we expect them to provide tender loving care for their charges? Maybe the dictum: "Physicians heal thyselves first" applies here.

The Ministry of Health's "Service with Love" campaign should apply to its own staff first before the staff can then eventually pass the loving campaign on next to the patients.

Maybe the head of the health promotion unit might want to do another survey and find out what are the reasons behind the results of his recent survey. In the meanwhile let the ministry apply the said campaign to its own staff first.