Sim said this long waiting period was unacceptable although he needed to obtain further information from the state health department, The Borneo Post reported.

“This is yet another reason why we advocate for healthcare autonomy to be fully delegated to Sarawak to ensure all aspects related to healthcare can be effectively implemented.

“This includes hospital infrastructure, human resources and so forth,” he was quoted as saying.

He is believed to be referring to a viral Facebook post by a woman claiming that she had to wait two hours for specialists to see her baby at Bintulu Hospital despite having already made an appointment.

The woman claimed the baby’s appointments with the eye and paediatric specialists were fixed for 8am and 2pm, respectively.

She later found out the registration counters only opened at 8am for the morning session, and 2pm for the afternoon session although she had arrived early.

She also said the wait time was more bearable at the Sarawak General Hospital, with registrations usually only taking about 15 minutes.

Last month, Sarawak premier Abang Johari Openg said talks were ongoing with the federal government on giving autonomy to Sarawak on health and education matters.

Sim, who is also the state public health, housing and local government minister, had met federal health officials in January over Sarawak’s request for autonomy over health matters.