Noor Hisham: SOP not followed leading to abduction of baby from hospital

PETALING JAYA: The staff and security guard of Tanah Merah Hospital were responsible for the infant abduction on Nov 15.
This is the finding of the The Kelantan Health Department and the Tanah Merah Hospital.
Director-General of Health Datuk Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah (pix) said the abduction took place because those on duty did not adhere to the discharge procedures, which is to verify the identity of the "couple" who claimed to be relatives of the five-day-old baby.
"Investigations by the department and hospital found that the discharge process was not fulfilled when the baby was allowed home. The staff and security guard on duty did not take complete steps to ascertain the identity of parents during discharge," Noor Hisham said in a statement.
He added the process did not follow the Health Director-General Circular 1/2007: Guidelines of Infant Security Control Systems in Ministry of Health Malaysia's Hospitals.
"Hospitals must ensure the newborn and the parents identification tag details are the same. The identification tag must be checked especially when handling an infant, before leaving delivery rooms and/or wards," he said.
Noor Hisham however did not specify whether any disciplinary action will be taken against the careless personnel involved.
On Tuesday night, a newborn baby girl was kidnapped from the children's ward of the hospital ... In the 7pm incident, a couple had allegedly discharged the baby and took her out of the hospital.
The infant's father Mohd Ihtisyamuddin Mohd Ashri, 29, lodged a police report immediately.
At about 10pm the same night, police tracked down the baby and found her in the possession of the couple, who are in their twenties, at Selising, Pasir Puteh.
Noor Hisham said the hospital has been directed to take proactive measures to ensure no such incident happen again.
Among the measures put in place are:
* waiting card for breast-feeding mothers
* recording parents and close relatives details
* produce marriage certificate when discharging the newborn.
* hospital to record a baby's discharge with a duplicate copy signed by the nurse. One is to be signed by the parents and security guard.