Covid-19: Ministry hopes to integrate public, private hospitals next week

Covid-19 | The Health Ministry aims to begin integrating public and private hospitals to treat serious cases of Covid-19 by next week, said its director-general Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah today.

Stakeholders will undergo a third round of discussions this Saturday (Jan 23) to iron out any outstanding issues.

In the meantime, the first phase of the ministry’s plan involving low-risk Covid-19 patients will be rolling out this weekend.

Speaking at a press conference this evening, Noor Hisham said that Covid-19 Assessment Centres (CACs) will open their doors this Saturday.

Set up in each of the 150 districts nationwide, the CACs are tasked with managing Category 1 (asymptomatic) and Category 2 (mild symptom) patients.

It will determine which patients qualify for home quarantine and which need to be placed in quarantine centres.

The top health official said that the CAC will also be overseeing the new “one-stop haemodialysis centre”.

This haemodialysis centre will assign medical staff from the public sector to the private sector or vice versa when necessary.

“In Tawau, there was one occasion in a private haemodialysis centre where a staff member was infected and needed to be quarantined.

“But the services needed to continue, otherwise the patients would not have access to haemodialysis. So we in the public sector sent our staff to run the services.

“So now we are looking into coordinating between the public and private sector to look into how we can resolve some of the issues,” he said.

Integrating private hospitals

Starting next week, the top official said “designated” private hospitals will be expected to admit and treat Covid-19 patients including those with severe acute respiratory infections (Sari).

Certain Covid-19 patient groups such as expatriates and staff at foreign embassies will also be placed in private hospitals.

“They (private hospitals) can continue to manage (these patients) instead of referring them to public hospitals,” he said.

Non-Covid-19 patients from public hospitals will also be decanted to private healthcare facilities to decongest the former.

Noor Hisham said that public hospitals may decant some of their Covid-19 patients to private hospitals, but indicated this remained a consideration.

Malaysia admits patients in Category Three (serious symptoms), Category Four (with pneumonia and requiring oxygen), and Category Five (with critical illness and multi-organ failure) to hospitals.

READ MORE: A glimpse of how private sector may be roped into Covid-19 fight

The ministry also plans to integrate hospital staff from the public and private sector. Training in infection control and other matters will soon be conducted for healthcare workers from both sectors, he said.

Noor Hisham explained that the Emergency (Essential Powers) Ordinance 2021 allows healthcare workers to work in both public and private hospitals.

“Under the Emergency Ordinance for Covid-19, we have already overridden the terms of the Annual Practicing Certificate (APC).

“The APC usually designates where you are going to practice. Now we already have done away with that, which means healthcare professionals can work in the public sector and can be mobilised (to work) in the private sector, and (move) from one hospital to another...

“So now you can practise anywhere as long as your service is needed,” he said.

The top official hoped that the integration will be able to begin next week but did not confirm a date.

“This is where we need to coordinate and make sure that we have smooth coordination (in terms of) referral and monitoring. So this is what we are trying to do.

“Hopefully in a week, by next week, we can actually start,” he said. 

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