| Hakim Hayat |
HIS Majesty Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah Mu’izzaddin Waddaulah ibni Al-Marhum Sultan Haji Omar ‘Ali Saifuddien Sa’adul Khairi Waddien, Sultan and Yang Di-Pertuan of Brunei Darussalam yesterday said the country’s health ministry needs to sustain its customer-centric values and put them into practice to ensure an objective healthcare system that benefits all.
Delivering a titah during an unscheduled visit to the Raja Isteri Pengiran Anak Saleha (RIPAS) Hospital in the capital yesterday morning, His Majesty focused on the need to improve the quality of healthcare services delivered in the country and touched on several issues that he said were brought to his attention recently.
Ensuring customer-friendliness and swift healthcare services for all:
The Ministry of Health (MoH) must continue to ultimately uphold and exercise its responsibilities and roles as an organisation central in maintaining the people’s well-being, His Majesty underscored in his titah. He added that people should not be asked to wait for long periods of time when they need medical attention.
The MoH’s strategic vision for 2035 that carries the slogan ‘Together towards a Healthy Nation’, His Majesty said, was devised to pioneer main elements of the ministry’s new strategies – a streamlined and comprehensive healthcare system, inculcating a healthy lifestyle, implementation of policies and regulations that are effective to ensure protection for all and the transparency and proactive measures in its administration system.
While praising the strategy’s theme that also embraces customer-friendly services that ensures patients, their families and the community are being given excellent, assuring, quality, consistent and safe, care and service, His Majesty however questioned if they are truly being implemented.
“What we need is its implementation. It is not enough if it is only on paper or theory only. It must be a reality that the people can benefit from,” added His Majesty.
Although the strategy’s main focus, which is the delivery of customer-friendly services is being implied as an excellent move, His Majesty also asked if it has been implemented adequately and reminded that it should not only be “on paper” but must be effectively executed.
His Majesty Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah Mu’izzaddin Waddaulah ibni Al-Marhum Sultan Haji Omar ‘Ali Saifuddien Sa’adul Khairi Waddien, Sultan and Yang Di-Pertuan of Brunei Darussalam touring the Women and Children’s block of the Raja Isteri Pengiran Anak Saleha Hospital.
His Majesty Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah Mu’izzaddin Waddaulah ibni Al-Marhum Sultan Haji Omar ‘Ali Saifuddien Sa’adul Khairi Waddien, Sultan and Yang Di-Pertuan of Brunei Darussalam delivering his titah. – PHOTOS: AZROL AZMI
“If in theory it says customer-friendly, then practically it must also really be the case for anyone without any discrimination,” added the monarch.
His Majesty later underlined several fine qualities that he said the ministry and its hospital staff must possess in order to fulfil the customer-friendly goal such as friendliness, transparency, willingness to help, caring, showing concern, kindness, good manners, politeness, soft-spoken, considerate, responsive and to not be rude to patients. The monarch gave several illustrations of poor-customer service that he said haas been a public grievance.
“If someone was rushed into the Emergency Department and is left to wait for hours to wait for a doctor to attend them, that is not customer-friendly,” said His Majesty, while highlighting that the Accident and Emergency Department should not have such issues and also said that this in addition applies to cases of patients having been forced to be admitted into wards and stay overnight in order to wait and be attended by a doctor later.
His Majesty also reminded that patients are people going through hardship and they must be aided to ease their suffering.
“Never add in more hardship for them and one of the ways to ease their suffering is by applying customer-friendly values,” added the monarch while citing an example of a rude nurse that would inflict more suffering on a patient.
His Majesty also reminded hospital administrators and doctors to be more attentive to patients by engaging with them the best way possible by being more comprehending of their feelings and emotions because he said there are illnesses that could derive from psychological factors such as stress that would cause high blood pressure and coronary problems amongst others.
Managing patients and family members’ hopes for recovery:
His Majesty also urged hospitals to manage properly the hopes of recovery for patients and to refrain from giving optimistic hopes of recovery that might be detrimental to the patients and also their loved ones, which he added has become prevalent as of late.
“The guaranteed chances of recovery assured by the doctors are so optimistic, sometimes up to 80 to 90 per cent,” said His Majesty, while adding that when a doctor promises a good chance of recovery (of up to 80 to 90 per cent) if a patient undergoes surgery, and the doctor warns that the patient would not survive if the procedure is not carried out, patients and their families would of course jump on the prospect.
“However, after surgery, the progress is not encouraging and patients will be left unconscious and later pass away without even being awake… this did not happen to one person. A number of families have come forward and told that their children, husbands and other family members have experienced the unfortunate incident due to the promises,” shared His Majesty.
If this is really happening, His Majesty said the concerned doctor must be given stern warning because no one should promise hope more than what he could do and added that their efforts are only to treat the patient and not to promise full recovery, because the only real healer is Allah the Almighty.
“The concerned parties must take note of this so this is not becoming a norm in our hospitals…there are many other issues that needs to be rectified, hence we should not stop from making improvements especially in the administration and management,” added the monarch.
Efficient management of medical dispensary:
His Majesty also stressed the need to better manage medical dispensaries to avoid any wastage and any misappropriation of medical stock that would cause the quick depletion of supplies.
“The same goes to the distribution of medicine…if they are not being managed carefully, it will cause wastage and all this will impact our medical supplies,” added His Majesty.
Doctors must also give medical advice:
On the handling and treatment of patients, His Majesty also said that there have been many instances heard from the public that doctors would only write out prescriptions after examining a patient and would not give any further advice to them.
“In my opinion, an excellent doctor is not only good in prescribing medicine but would also not mind giving further advice…this is sometimes also much needed apart from medicine…we all must look into this as a step to fulfil MoH’s vision in 2035,” added His Majesty.
More follow-up action needed to prevent Zika:
Touching on the emergence of the Zika virus affecting many in neighbouring countries that has stirred a lot of panic recently, His Majesty said that he observed that no firm warning and effective action was taken in handling the situation since the beginning.
“It was only simply by reminding the public to not panic although the number of those infected with the virus continues to rise in many countries closer to us,” added the monarch.
Although public reminders such as how to prevent mosquito carriers of the disease have been rife, the monarch noticed that it is more inclined to advisory rather than more follow-up action, such as the reminder on the importance of keeping environments clean that proves to be ineffective because the relevant authorities are not taking action.
“The proof is that the rubbish here is still not being managed properly. Drains are still filled with rubbish and our rivers are also flowing with rubbish and are not being handled effectively (by the relevant authorities),” added the monarch, adding that if the blame is to the people who are still indiscriminately throwing rubbish, steps must be taken to rectify this.
Need to enforce existing regulations to keep environment clean:
His Majesty said that if the public are not giving their cooperation in keeping our environment clean, steps must be taken to rectify the situation.
“In this issue, I want to know what are the actions being taken? Are there any existing regulations and acts to solve this predicament? If yes, have they been enforced for the purpose of disciplining the people?” asked His Majesty, while also pointing out that if disposing cigarette butts in public places in other countries is already an offence, rubbish dumping on roads, drains or rivers must have more severe repercussions and later asked for a response from the relevant authorities on the matter.
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