It is clear within the medical faculty there is a great concern for the quality of doctors produced and that there are too many doctors too soon. There have been instances whereby the trainee doctors can't tell the difference between a sleeping patient and a cyanosed one! The trainee doctors did not know the basics of resuscitation or what an oxygen face mask was. Ludicrous but true!
My mother went through a surgery only to come out of the operation theatre without any pain killers. She was writhing in extreme raw pain for 85 minutes! During that time, I pleaded with the doctor to check what was wrong. All he had to say was that she had very low tolerance for pain, until a low ranking nurse took the trouble to check the pain killer dispensing machine only to find that it had malfunctioned! I blew my top with the doctors and nurses, and I had every right to! The head nurse was extremely apologetic and tried to make the rest of my mother's stay as comfortable as possible.
At least in my mother's case, the situation was salvaged. There are cases where medical negligence practically takes away one's quality of life.
A news report back in 2007 stated that the highest number of medical negligence cases in Malaysia occurs in the delivery room. That was what happened in Ahmad Alif's case and as a result he suffered paralysis on his left side of his body and brain damage. It took his family 10 long years to receive acknowledgement that there was medical negligence.
In the case of Baby Yok Shan, the photo speaks for itself. A trainee doctor who received instructions over the telephone from the specialist doctor on duty administered the injection. The trainee doctor inserted the needle into muscles and tissues instead of blood vessel in the arm. This caused the baby’s arm to be infected.What irked me was the response of the then Health Minister - a total disgrace!
At least in my mother's case, the situation was salvaged. There are cases where medical negligence practically takes away one's quality of life.
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| Ahmad Alif (right) with family & counsel |
In the case of Baby Yok Shan, the photo speaks for itself. A trainee doctor who received instructions over the telephone from the specialist doctor on duty administered the injection. The trainee doctor inserted the needle into muscles and tissues instead of blood vessel in the arm. This caused the baby’s arm to be infected.What irked me was the response of the then Health Minister - a total disgrace!
The above two cases are not current news but yet the same concerns persist. In order to achieve a good doctor patient ratio, Malaysia is akin to a production mill at full capacity churning out questionable quality doctors. Apparently, General Medical Council of the United Kingdom does not recognize our local medical degrees! So what does this say about the quality of locally trained doctors?
"Medical mistakes and lapses are not acceptable options, and the consequences are too dire for society or the patient and/or their families to bear," Malaysian Medical Association (MMA) president Dr Quek said.
Dr Milton Lum hit home when he opined in his interview saying "The consequences of having significant numbers of poor quality personnel in other areas of human activity may not be significant, but in healthcare, it can be a matter of life and death for all the population"
It is hoped that in the rat race to achieve a good doctor patient ratio, the authorities will not forget that quality of doctors are just as vital. Doctors to remember that practising medicine is not just a prestigious, profitable career – IT IS A CALLING!
The "Physician Code" may not be applicable to doctors in Malaysia, but this is a good one
The widely used modern version of Hippocratic Oath was penned in 1964 by Dr Louis Lasagna
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