The Damai Service Hospital in Jalan Ipoh today clarified that it was not linked to another hospital bearing the same name in Melawati, which has been accused for allegedly breaching a variety of healthcare standards, including operating a nursing school without a licence.

The hospital, which shares the namesake as Damai Service Hospital in Melawati, said its reputation has been tarnished after the media reported a group of students lodging a complaint with the Human Rights Commission (Suhakam) against their nursing school.

The students were suspended by the school - the Damai Service Hospital Nursing School (Melawati) - for going to the media to complain that they had not being provided with adequate training.

The students also claimed that there had been a lack of supervision while they were undergoing practical training at Melawati's Damai Service Hospital.

Officials from the Jalan Ipoh's Damai Service Hospital were visibly angry at a press conference held today.

The Jalan Ipoh's Damai Service Hospital set up the Melawati hospital as a branch in 1989. However, links with the Melawati hospital were completely severed in 1998.

Two different hospitals

"We strongly stress that Damai Service Hospital (HQ) Jalan Ipoh is in no way related nor involved in this issue. We are separate entities, wholly owned and managed by separate management.

"In other words, we are in fact two different hospitals. We feel we are wrongly victimised by the mere fact of similarity in names," Dr Guna Sittampalam, the hospital's chief executive officer, told reporters today.

Two days ago, 17 students lodged a report with Suhakam alleging that their nursing school have failed to provide adequate training and despite this they were made to work as nurses at the Melawati hospital.

Guna said while the Jalan Ipoh hospital were paid on nine occasions to provide lectures for Melawati nursing students, both hospitals are not affiliated in any way.

"That is why if you read malaysiakini , our name was mentioned. I think that was where the whole thing started," said Guna ( photo ), showing a printed copy of the malaysiakini report at the press conference.

The hospital has since sent letters of legal notice to several news organisations, including malaysiakini .

"We want them to retract this and say that this has nothing to do with HQ (Jalan Ipoh's headquarters), and we want them to do it in good faith," he added.

Malaysiakini has since made a correction in its news report on the matter.

Despite the separation between the two hospitals eight years ago, it is learnt that both decided to retain their names due to the difficulty in the process of a complete name change.

One patient checked out

Nurse educator Sue Yob Bee, who was also at the press conference, said that the uniforms of the respective nursing schools in Melawati and Jalan Ipoh were different.

"Our uniform bears our logo. Whereas in Melawati there is none. And the green uniforms are peculiar to us."

Dr Guna expressed fears that the news reports might have harmed his hospital's reputation. He said the hospital is "quite well-established" in Sentul, Kepong and Jalan Ipoh area.

"The patient whom I have delivered as a baby in 1981 has come back to the hospital to deliver her child," he said.

Hospital staff told reporters that one patient, upon reading news on the hospital in a tabloid, has questioned the nurses regarding the matter.

"She asked 'are you really a qualified nurse or not?', 'why is your hospital not recognised and are you not all trained nurses?'" said a nurse, who identified herself as Geetha.

According to the nurses, the patient then decided to check out of the hospital.