KUALA LUMPUR: Private healthcare specialists have come forward to help in the fight against Covid-19.
The Academy of Medicine of Malaysia (AMM) today welcomed the government's decision to engage with private sector healthcare providers to manage Covid-19.
"On behalf of over 3,000 medical specialists in Malaysia from the public, private, and academic sectors represented by AMM, we are prepared to serve and assist the Ministry of Health (MOH) with its Covid-19 management plan, irrespective of our place of duty. We understand there are many facets which need attention to streamline the public and private healthcare systems effectively and efficiently," it said.
AMM however raised some concerns regarding the capacity of private hospitals to manage Covid-19 patients given the limited human resource infrastructure, ICU set-up and specialists in the private sector, who themselves medicaay belong to high-risk groups.
"We trust all these matters will be accounted for and hope to see creative solutions such as secondments of medical staff to private hospitals and cross-referrals between hospitals."
It said coordinating the two healthcare systems was no mean feat, and AMM was confident in the ministry's ability and believes collaboration with the Association of Private Hospitals Malaysia (APHM) and all relevant stakeholders to find solutions that best suit all parties.
"This is also a timely collaboration in light of the increase in Covid-19 infections among healthcare workers (HCW). While we understand that only a third of infections are nosocomial, i.e. originating in the hospital, we are deeply concerned for our colleagues on the frontline.
"The third wave has almost overwhelmed the health system, thus stretching thin the surveillance and protective measures in place," it said.
AMM added it sees great potential in private-public partnerships helping to mitigate these risks for our frontline HCWs in the future.
"We are prepared to contribute in any way that can support MoH, namely in educating and engaging with specialists," it said.