In PETALING JAYA, Datuk Dr Muhammad Radzi Abu Hassan emphasized the importance of a triage system at emergency and trauma departments in hospitals in order to effectively determine patient treatment priority. As the first point of contact for all patients, the Health director-general stressed the necessity of following protocols, as indicated by client charters at public hospitals.
The client charters specify that critical cases should be seen immediately, semi-critical cases within 30 minutes, and other cases within 90 minutes. The protocols are established to sort out patients based on their severity, ensuring timely attention and appropriate resource allocation.
According to Dr Muhammad Radzi, the rapid execution of triage procedures is essential for the efficient flow of patients and to prevent unnecessary congestion.
He also mentioned that all emergency departments started using the Malaysian Triage Scale 2022 in April, with the Health Ministry overseeing all triage under the Hospital Indicators for Accountability.
To support the transition to the new scale, a training app has been developed to offer decision support. The app aims to replace subjective clinical decisions and prevent misuse through various monitoring methods including surveillance, use of body cameras, clinical audits, and public feedback.
Dr Muhammad Radzi highlighted the need to educate the public on the correct utilization of emergency services through mass media, social media channels, and government programs. Furthermore, he emphasized that non-emergency cases should be redirected to government or private clinics via extended hours services.
Head of the emergency and trauma department at Teluk Intan Hospital, Dr Samsu Ambia Ismail, stressed the significance of the five-level triage system and explained how it is used to gauge the severity of patients in relation to their medical conditions.
According to Dr Samsu Ambia, the triage system is designed to assess the criticality of emergencies based on various factors. He outlined the different levels of emergency care and how they are categorically divided to promptly attend to patients in dire need.
Dr Dzulkefly Ahmad, the Health Minister, voiced concern over cases of patients dying after waiting hours for triage, emphasizing that the process should prioritize the severity of illnesses over superficial factors such as a patient’s appearance. His comments were in response to a case at the Sungai Petani Hospital in Kedah where a patient allegedly died after waiting for five hours for triage.
On a different note, a 72-year-old man was turned away from the Seberang Jaya Hospital for inappropriate dressing, an episode later attributed to a miscommunication.
