PPR Intan Baiduri residents are suggesting that the current clinic be relocated to the community hall, which is a few metres away.
RESIDENTS of Intan Baiduri People’s Housing Project (PPR) in Taman Intan Baiduri, Kuala Lumpur, thought they were fortunate to have a community clinic within their premises unlike many other PPR.
However, now they say it is not effective as many facilities and a doctor are not available at the clinic, which is a former Klinik 1Malaysia.
The community clinic is run by a medical assistant, an attendant and a nurse. It is open from 9am to 6pm daily. A doctor comes in every Friday, only after 2pm.
For serious cases, the medical assistant would normally refer patients to see a doctor at the nearest Klinik Kesihatan Jinjang, about 7km away or Selayang Hospital about 5km away.
Even on a good day, it would take at least 30 minutes to get to either destination by car, and the wait time to see a doctor can be anywhere between two and three hours.
Residents say the clinic at the PPR, which has about 9,000 dwellers, is too small and those on wheelchair and crutches find it difficult to move around.
Former Block A chairman Khairul Anuwar Yusoff, 58, said his wheelchair-bound wife Bibi Mumtaz Akbar was in need of routine medical check-up, including blood tests.
“Getting my wife, who is a stroke patient, to the clinic here is a challenge as the place is small and narrow,” he said, adding that he now takes her to Klinik Kesihatan Jinjang every three months for check-up.
He said it had been a struggle to hire a car or book a ride via ehailing to get to the clinic where the wait to see a doctor could be hours.
Zaman says space is crucial for the clinic to be effective.
Khairul suggested that PPR Intan Baiduri’s three-storey community hall which was currently underutilised, be turned into a clinic as it was more spacious.
Another resident Zaman Hury, 50, who agreed with his suggestion, said seating facilities could be increased at the hall as it had ample space.
“Right now, the clinic only has a few chairs. So if there are many patients, people have to sit outside,” he added.
Kuala Lumpur Health Department did not respond to queries as of press time.
At PPR Batu Muda, residents will soon be able to enjoy free medical services with the setting up of a clinic in the next few months.
Set up by the Maaedicare Charitable Foundation, together with Malaysian Red Crescent Society (MRCS), the free clinic, Klinik Amal Percuma, will offer services such as primary care, chronic disease management and simple procedures.
Foundation chief operations officer Dr Mohammad Shazli Abdul Rahman said this would be its second free clinic in Kuala Lumpur and third nationwide.
“We hope that this will provide easy access to basic healthcare and medical treatment for the low-income communities in this area.
“Hopefully, this will also help with the long wait time at government hospitals and clinics,” he told StarMetro.
Dr Mohammad Shazli said 16 free clinics would be set up in various states in the future.
One each in Kuala Lumpur and Ipoh, Perak, started operations in January.
