Recently, newspapers highlighted the incidence of 'alien objects' being removed from the womb of a woman at a private hospital in Seremban. The woman had earlier undergone an operation to deliver her baby at the Hospital Tengku Ampuan Rahimah (HTAR) in Klang but subsequently experienced much pain and sought treatment.

The government hospital later admitted that there were 'alien objects' in the woman's which media reports said was a piece of cloth left behind after her delivery.

The health minister assured the public that "patients in accredited hospitals would receive the best possible care in a safe environment" and "that these hospitals had put in place the high standards set by the Malaysian Society for Quality in Health (MSQH) "

He said Hospital Tengku Ampuan Rahimah was one of the 67 hospitals nationwide to have received the MSQH certification.

HTAR should be congratulated for finally admitting their mistake. However, would HTAR have admitted to this serious act of carelessness and irresponsible behaviour if it had not been highlighted in the media? Shouldn't HTAR take immediate steps to compensate the woman?

It is surprising that HTAR has been reportedly awarded the MSQH certification. There also could be many other 'adverse patient outcomes' that may go unnoticed or unreported in HTAR and other hospitals nationwide. It's frightening to imagine how high the standards really are at the 67 MSQH accredited hospitals.

I shudder to think what goes on in the other 277 hospitals nationwide which have yet to be accredited by MSQH. Incidentally, there seems to be no provision in the law for the Health Ministry to take action against errant private hospitals considering the fact that there are 219 private hospitals nationwide. Is the Private Healthcare Facilities And Services Act 1998 to be enforced only in the year 2020?

Could the contemporary medical system be in dire need of other regulatory systems, policies, procedures and mechanisms to provide the best possible care in a safe environment and achieve the high standards they so urgently require?

"When the number one killer in a society is the healthcare system, then, that system has no excuse except to address its own urgent shortcomings. It's a failed system in need of immediate attention beginning at its very foundation." - Gary Null Phd, Carolyn Dean MD ND, Martin Feldman MD, Debora Rasio MD, Dorothy Smith PhD, Death By Medicine , October 2003.