Emergency wards for critical cases only, says Dr Subra

PUTRAJAYA: The public have been advised to avoid going to the emergency units of public hospitals to get treatment for non-critical illnesses.
"The rakyat must understand, the emergency unit is for critical cases. A lot of them who have common cold, fever or diabetes should admit themselves to the outpatient ward instead," said Health Minister Datuk Seri Dr S Subramaniam.
Subramaniam added that staff at the emergency units have also been instructed to advise patients with minor ailments to go to nearby clinics for treatment.
He however said the ministry does not plan to implement a deposit system, which is used in Singapore - where those admitted into emergency units with non-critical illnesses will have their deposit forfeited.
Meanwhile, he also said that the Health Ministry aims to turn its nursing colleges into college-universities to enable its students to obtain degrees.
He said the ministry would hold discussions with the Malaysian Qualification Agency (MQA) to upgrade the status of its colleges and expressed hopes that this could be executed by 2017.
"Currently, our colleges are only offering diplomas (in nursing), although we have the facilities and training staff to offer degrees to students, " he said.
Subramaniam said the majority of the 120,000 nurses working in both the public and private sectors have a diploma in nursing, adding that currently those who wanted to pursue a degree in nursing had to do so at private education institutions.
He was speaking to reporters after officiating the national-level International Nurses Day celebration at the Putrajaya International Convention Centre (PICC) today themed "Nurses: A Force of Change - Improving Health Systems' Resilience".
The event also saw three outstanding nurses Kapitah Awang, Puziyah Khalid, and R. Elizabeth Vijaya being presented with the Tokong Jururawat 2016 awards under the service, community and education categories respectively.