A screenshot of the video where a TikTok user claimed that she was turned away from seeing a doctor at Hospital Sultanah Aminah on June 20, 2023.
JOHOR BARU: Public hospitals cannot turn away any patients who come forth to seek medical treatment, says Johor health and unity committee chairman Ling Tian Soon.
He said Hospital Sultanah Aminah (HSA) was currently looking into a claim where a patient was allegedly stopped from seeing a medical officer at the hospital’s emergency and trauma department on Tuesday (June 20).
"HSA’s director has issued a statement about the matter where an internal investigation is being conducted.
"We do not know exactly what happened during the incident so let’s give way to them to do the investigation first," he said when asked to comment on the matter after launching Gleneagles Hospital Medini’s new digital PET CT facility on Wednesday (June 21).
A video clip of the incident went viral on social media where the user claimed that she was turned away by a HSA reception staff member.
The woman recording the video was also heard speaking to the reception staff member impolitely while asking him whether she could see a doctor.
"Kalau saya berdarah pun tak boleh jumpa doktor? Sekarang saya nak jumpa siapa? Hello, jawab saya boleh tak? Eh!" the woman said. (I can’t see a doctor even if I’m bleeding? So who should I see? Hello, can you answer me? Eh!)
The TikTok user has since deleted the video.
Following the incident, HSA director Dr Sal Atan said the hospital’s emergency and trauma department offers round-the-clock service including for non-emergency cases after office hours, weekends and public holidays.
She added that starting June 4, the Health Ministry had also started a pilot project which extended the operating hours of the Mahmoodiah health clinic near HSA.
It was understood that the extended hours were to help ease the burden of the hospital’s emergency and trauma department.
"We are trying to find out whether the patient involved in the incident was experiencing an emergency or non-emergency case.
"At the same time, the HSA management will continue striving to provide the best medical service to the public and we regret if any convenience was caused during the incident," said Dr Sal.
