The public and government should pay attention to the fact that there is a manpower shortage in the fight against COVID-19.
Professor Datuk Dr Subramaniam Muniandy, president of the Malaysian Medical Association, said the manpower shortage has worsened, particularly in the Klang Valley, where the number of cases is the highest.
” Currently, the health district officers are tasked with duties of triaging, screening, assessing, contact tracing, monitoring and home-monitoring of category 1 and 2 of COVID-19 patients. Apart from this, they also manage acute and chronic non-COVID-19 cases everyday.
“With proper monitoring and coordination enabled through digitalisation, more private general practitioners (GPs) would be willing to participate in its programme. Especially when more efficient usage is needed at district health offices and government clinics as the number of persons-under-investigation (PUI), persons-under-surveillance (PUS) as well as COVID-19 patients are on the rise.
But since medical personnel are overburdened, he believes pandemic management should be simplified to maintain the highest standard of care.
“For a nominal fee, the non-COVID-19 acute and chronic cases can be outsourced to private clinics or private hospitals. This will allow the ministry to focus its resources on managing COVID-19.
Since the healthcare system is on the verge of collapsing, the Malaysian Medical Association (MMA) is urging the Health Ministry to re-strategise and bring in more people to combat the current manpower shortage issues.
Source: New Straits Times
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