SIBU: Rejang Medical Centre will station two employees, instead of one currently, at their counter round-the-clock to ensure clients enjoy more efficient service.

This followed an incident on July 21 where a counter staff failed to adhere to Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) when dealing with an ambulance emergency service situation.

The staff had turned away an appeal by Good Samaritan Thomas Loh to help a family of three who were seriously hurt in a hit-and-run accident nearby. After Loh posted what had transpired at the medical centre on his facebook page, it sparked a public outrage.

In an email to The Borneo Post last week, Rejang Medical Centre’s general manager Anne Tang: “We have been constantly working hard to serve the people of Sibu, bringing specialists as well as patients from afar to Sibu, and upgrading medical facilities in Sarawak central region.”

She said in a service industry where human variables were common, it was difficult to monitor behaviour of employees.

“To ensure that non compliance of SOP to the emergency ambulance call never happens again, we are going to station two staffers at the counter at all times.”

In the 5.30pm incident on July 21, a family of three riding on a motorcycle was knocked down by a car at Muhibah Road, where the weekly Sunday market is located.

Upon seeing that the 62-year-old rider, a 17-year-old girl and a one-year-old girl were seriously hurt, Loh rushed to the medical centre to ask for emergency ambulance service, but his request was turned down.

On emergency ambulance service, Tang said, “The Ministry of Health requires all licensed medical facilities to have SOP for various departments. We have clearly spelt out SOP for our ambulance calls and all the staffs know and have been following it.”

She said the operator that day claimed she did not follow the SOP because the medical team was busy with a patient who fell down from a building.

“Her explanation was not accepted by the management. She has ceased to be our staff since the incident. We took severe action on her based on the fact that she failed to inform the medical personnel on emergency ambulance call as stipulated in the SOP.”

In an earlier response to Loh’s posting on his facebook page, Rejang Medical Centre commended the response of members of the public by stating: “We, at Rejang Medical Centre, are with them for the sake of the future of our community and our beloved Sarawak. In fact, since the inception of Rejang Medical Centre 18 years ago, we have adhered to our founding principle to provide affordable and quality healthcare services to the people of Sibu and beyond.”

The centre said their ambulance service constituted an integral part of their overall services, and there were on average over 20 cases of emergency ambulance calls monthly. They said they had three ambulances on standby now to keep up with the service.

Rejang Medical Centre’s SOP for emergency ambulance calls is as follows: the operator will direct the call to the doctors or nurses on duty, and the latter will respond according to the severity and urgency of the case.

“It is never in our SOP to ask if a patient can pay for the ambulance service (because) saving life is our utmost priority. In 18 years, we have never turned away emergency ambulance calls.”

“Rejang Medical Centre has been silently absorbing the high cost of ambulance services for these patients, and being the only private hospital in the central region still owned and operated by Sarawakians, we remain committed to the well being of fellow Sarawakians.”

Source: The Borneo Post Online