KUALA LUMPUR: Empowering registered private medical practitioners with the same authority as their peers in the public sector in managing Covid-19 patients will tackle delays in contact tracing and ensure seamless patient management.
Association of Private Hospitals Malaysia president Datuk Dr Kuljit Singh said this following the Health Ministry's announcement yesterday that it would consider enabling the private sector to enforce Home Surveillance Orders and secure quarantine wristbands on patients.
"We welcome the move, which will give us a little bit more control. With this, we can actually help the government in keeping the patients under quarantine in a proper manner.
"This will help address issues of long waiting period (for close contacts to be tested and issued wristbands)."
However, he said, the ministry would have to lay out the details concerning the protocols involved to prevent any gap in the implementation.
"We need to have more details on how it can be done and what is the accessibility that a medical officer in a private clinic or private hospital would have in the event of a breach.
"How much empowerment will private medical practitioners have? What will be the resources if a patient refuses to listen?
"These are just a few details that, if clarified in detail, I believe will see medical practitioners both in public and private hospitals work together to manage Covid-19 patients."
Dr Kuljit said there were no delays on the part of private hospitals in sending patients' and close contacts' data to the Health Ministry's Public Health Laboratory Information System.
Health director-general Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah yesterday said private facilities were late in sending data to the ministry, which had caused delays in the detection of close contacts.
The Health Ministry had, therefore, instructed private healthcare facilities and laboratories to report Covid-19 cases promptly to prevent delays in attending to patients and close contacts.
Dr Kuljit said for any communicable disease, details would be sent out within 24 hours of a positive test result.
"So I do not see where and which private hospital is causing this issue. We do report on time within 24 hours.
"Having said that, we are happy to discuss if there are cases concerning private hospitals. We will definitely be very cooperative and work together with the ministry to make sure everything is done accurately and on time.
"But what I see now is that we do not have any knowledge of such a delay in private hospitals."