Life-and-death in Kedah: No ICU for those with little hope of recovery
Chronically ill patients with little hope of recovery in Kedah will no longer be placed in intensive care units (ICUs), due to the dwindling number of ICU beds available in the state.
This applies to both Covid-19 patients as well as those without Covid-19, according to a Berita Harian report today.
The report quoted Health and Local Government state executive councillor Dr Mohd Hayati Othman saying that...
Chronically ill patients with little hope of recovery in Kedah will no longer be placed in intensive care units (ICUs), due to the dwindling number of ICU beds available in the state.
This applies to both Covid-19 patients as well as those without Covid-19, according to a Berita Harian report today.
The report quoted Health and Local Government state executive councillor Dr Mohd Hayati Othman saying that although there are enough ICU beds for now, he is concerned that other critically ill patients cannot be admitted into the ICU if it is full of Covid-19 patients.
Thus, medical staff would have to choose between admitting critically ill patients and Covid-19 patients to be rushed into the ICU.
“I feel heavy-hearted on whether to announce this, but I have to say it: In certain cases, doctors have to choose whom to send to the ICU, and if the patient is too chronically ill and has no hope, we won’t admit them to the ICU.
“This includes non-Covid-19 cases. Doctors would have to make a tough assessment for some cases, but where possible, we will treat all patients as best as we can until they recover and stabilise,” he was quoted as saying.
He reportedly urged people to abide by Covid-19 standard operating procedures and not to leave home unless they have important business to attend to.
“We have to remember that hospitals are not just for treating Covid-19 patients, but there are also diabetes patients and others who need treatment and surgery, and need ICU admission after surgery,” he said.
The report also quoted state health director Dr Mohd Fikri Ujang saying there are 44 Covid-19 patients in the state’s ICUs, of which 20 of them require mechanical ventilators.
In a related development, Health Ministry director-general Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah has instructed private hospitals to provide more beds for Covid-19 patients.
This includes regular and ICU wards, he said in a letter issued to private hospitals on May 20.
In the letter, he noted that public hospital resources were stretched to the limit due to the surge of Covid-19 cases, where ICU beds for Covid-19 across the country were all nearly filled, while new cases and the death toll continued to climb.
Similar problems were also faced by private hospitals that provided treatment for Covid-19 patients.
"The ministry needs private hospitals to increase bed capacity for Covid-19 cases, which include regular wards and ICU beds.
"The liaison officer of private hospitals must ensure additional beds and ICU beds can be allocated for Covid-19 patients," Noor Hisham added.
Last month, the Association of Private Hospitals Malaysia (APHM) president Dr Kuljit Singh said most private hospitals were no longer able to accept Covid-19 patients.
The country is struggling with a sharp surge of Covid-19 since mid-April. Today saw new cases exceeding the 6,000 mark for the second consecutive day.
The number of active Covid-19 cases has breached the 50,000 mark for the second time since the start of the pandemic in the country and is coming close to the record of 52,186 active cases set on Feb 5.
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