HTAR denies emergency dept cleared out before PM’s visit

HTAR denies emergency dept cleared out before PM’s visit

Screenshots of conversations reportedly among doctors allege that the department was made to look 'under control'.

A screengrab of an image allegedly posted by doctors showing Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin during his visit to Hospital Tengku Ampuan Rahimah (HTAR), Klang yesterday.
PETALING JAYA:
Hospital Tengku Ampuan Rahimah (HTAR), Klang has denied allegations that spread on social media that its emergency and trauma department (ETD) was emptied before the visit of Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin yesterday.

Messages purportedly shared among doctors claimed that patients in the department had been moved to the daycare complex to show the prime minister that the department was clear and the situation was under control.

In a statement, hospital director Dr Zulkarnain Mohd Rawi said the patients were moved to the daycare complex because the ETD was already full.

He explained that the transfer of Covid-19 patients to the daycare section was a contingency move made by hospital-level disaster management.

Another image of the visitors outside the forensics department. (@lcsmxms pic)

“On July 9, the daycare complex was proposed to change its function to be a temporary ward to treat Covid-19 patients to ensure patients receive treatment in a comfortable space,” he said.

Zulkarnain said there are typically 150 to 180 patients treated a day by the ETD, with 117 still awaiting treatment as of yesterday.

He said the criteria for placing Covid-19 patients into low-risk wards were at the discretion of the ward management personnel and not the ETD.

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