Public healthcare facilities in Sabah are still in a shambles, according to a senator who has made a study of the situation.

And Senator Maijol Mahap finds no evidence that the federal and state government are working together urgently to improve the state's medical services.

He has also since discovered that the Health Ministry's recent purchase of a private hospital in Kota Kinabalu has added to the already existing woes at the Queen Elizabeth II (QE II) General Hospital in Kota Kinabalu.

queen elizabeth hospital kota kinabalu 251008 "My heart goes out to the patients seeking treatment at the QE II," said Mahap, also a vice-president of the United PasokMomogun KadazanDusunMurut Organisation (Upko). "The conditions are so chaotic for the patients and their relatives."

He was elaborating on a brief statement that he issued earlier this week calling on the federal and state governments to bring the medical services in Sabah up to speed.

Mahap lamented that the wards at the QEH II in downtown KK, for one, are still "very cramped" although the ministry purchased the Sabah Medical Centre (SMC) near the hospital.

The "hurried" purchase, he added, is not easing the situation at QEH II which was further aggravated after the Tower Block was declared unsafe and abandoned in late 2009.

"The patients are very often asked to go back to their district hospitals by themselves soon after being operated on. They should still be in the recovery and observation stage," said Mahap. "This defeats the purpose of QEH II being the referral hospital in Sabah."

District hospitals's list of woes

To make matters worse, Mahap said that the recipient district hospitals are unable to help the recovering patients "as they lack the necessary expertise, equipment and facilities".

This means the patients concerned would have to be referred back to QEH II to monitor their recovery "at uncertain risks to their health".

The district hospitals, warned Mahap, have problems of their own. Citing from personal experience, he related the case of a young mother, who had just given birth, lying on the floor of the Kota Marudu Hospital with her new-born baby.

"When I asked the doctor in charge, he said that there were not enough hospital beds for the patients," he said. "This is unbelievable. Our medical facilities are worse than in any under-developed nation."

Mahap also pointed out that the present system of ferrying patients between QEH II and its branch at the old SMC premises "is a logistical nightmare.

"When QEH II decides to send a patient to Luyang, it takes about two hours before it can be done although the latter facility is only about ten minutes away if traffic-free," said Mahap. "This is because they have to arrange for an ambulance and accompanying doctors and nurses, all in short supply."

He asked: "What would happen in an emergency situation. Surely, the life of the patient concerned is at stake.This shows the extremely sad situation of the medical services in Sabah."

Vital medical equipment lying idle

Re-visiting the ministry's purchase of the SMC, Mahap alleged that vital equipment like the CT Scan and MRI are either not in working order or out of service most of the time.

"We understand that these equipment must be replaced by the government - the health ministry - claims that it has no money to do so," disclosed Mahap. "How can the government say that it has no money for equipment when it can fork out millions to buy the SMC?

"No money for equipment" is also the ministry's excuse for not providing for the completion of the operating theatre at QE II, according to Mahap.

"We don't understand the logic. Patients are dying while waiting to be operated on. Why do they have no money to buy equipment when they can complete the building?"

The Sabah Health Department declined to comment "at this juncture" on Mahap's complaints.