Ling speaking to a patient during his visit to Hospital Sultan Ismail in Johor Baru on Thursday (Aug 3).
JOHOR BARU: A complaint that went viral on social media about services at a government hospital here did not tell the full story, says Ling Tian Soon.
The Johor health and unity committee chairman said the assumption that a patient had to wait eight hours for treatment was untrue as she underwent various tests during that time.
Ling said after the post made its rounds on Facebook, he conducted a spot check at Hospital Sultan Ismail (HSI) on Thursday (Aug 3) evening.
"I was informed that the patient was brought to the hospital's emergency and trauma unit in an ambulance.
"The patient was wheeled to the yellow zone where she was given the necessary medical attention and her relatives were advised to wait at the green zone.
"After stabilising the patient, her blood sample was sent to the laboratory for tests while the patient underwent a CT scan," he said in a Facebook post.
Ling said the patient was allowed to go home after undergoing detailed treatment and checks.
The patient's family member had complained about the lack of doctors in HSI's yellow zone and that the patient had to wait from 11am to 7pm before getting treated.
"Perhaps there was a miscommunication between the hospital staff and the patient's family.
"While I accept the public's views about the government healthcare system, I am also confident that healthcare workers have carried out their responsibilities professionally with the resources available," Ling added.
He stressed that all critical cases in the hospital's red zone and yellow zone (semi-critical) would be given medical treatment according to the patient's needs.
Ling added that he and Johor Mentri Besar Datuk Onn Hafiz Ghazi have both visited public hospitals in the state many times and understood the public's feelings.
"We also note that HSI's emergency and trauma unit treats 300 to 400 patients a day and we have highlighted to the Health Ministry about the need to add more healthcare staff to provide more efficient service to the people," he added.
