I took my father to see a Psychiatrist at UMMC today. Mom dropped us at the hospital before heading off to run some errands. We did not tell him why we were going there for, so my father expected to see the Ophthalmologist concerning his Cataracts.
The Psychiatry Clinic is tucked in a maze of specialty departments. To my relief, there was not as many people as I had expect. But the first intake nurse I spoke to did not look experienced despite her age, for she thought what I had to say was unreliable and wanted to hear from dad who turned out unable to understand her anyway.
I considered speaking in Malay a helpful gesture to the staffs who were all Malays. But they were so busy. I lost the Nurse’ attention after receiving back our appointment card. She proceeded to talk with a bunch of people and forgot to advise us on what to do. The Nurse who took care of the cash register would not even look up from the computer screen while I stood waiting before her.
Frustrated and not getting anywhere, I spoke English, the language I am most fluent with. Heads turned and we were duly attended to.
That’s why it is good to speak English.
from UH to UMMC, the name has changed, the charges go higher, the facilities got better, but no changes made to the poor service. my visits to this hospital were always unpleasant and annoying too.
goes to show that they still consider english to be a class above the rest… sad to know that the govt is changing the subjects teaching medium though… oh well…
yvonne… ever considered setting up an approved fund? then ppl donating to your fund will get tax deductions.
Well, as a hospital stuff, when i worked in first class, i need to speak english to arouse these so-called first class but sickening pt to understand why they need to be responsible for their health….
However, i don’t know bout UMMC, but in general hospital like mine, pt needs to lower down their expectations as we are under-staffed and also low resources and please don’t ask me why we didn’t hire more ppl or buy more things, please ask the politicians…..
Just can’t wait to leave government and contribute to the brain-drainage list….
waihan: You must have sought treatment at UMMC from a long time ago.
Zewt, I wanted to set up a fund that people can contribute and get tax exemotion at the same time. But I heard an organization needs to have a large sum of money before they can apply for tax exemption from the IRB. I was also under the impression that to do this, we need to establish an organization registered with the ROS too. The organization needs to have a BOD, mission, rules and so on. Since you’re an accountant, maybe you have a better idea. Please share!
Shiau Lee: I don’t think government hospitals are under-staffed. It does not seem at all to me. I believe it’s a case of mismanagement. The general hospital in KL still records everything with pen and paper, and they don’t store MRIs in CD. All MRIs are printed on films. With a management like that,the hospitalwill be short of hand no matter how many clerks they hire.
Well, if u see the statistics, ratio of staff nurse: patient is 1:620 and physiotherapist: patient 1:400…
I agreed with you bout all the computer application but don;t forget not all of the staffs are computer experts… even government can send them to learn it will also take time…
Currently i’m seeing 30 pts per day… i only have 7 hours working hour… and at least 6 hours is clinical hours… and this will be like 12mins per patient… will you want a physiotherapist only spend 10 minutes do physio on u and spend another 2 minutes to document:?????
Shiau Lee: From what I have been reading, physiotherapists sit down at the end of the day to write reports or they do it after working with patients during the morning or afternoon sessions.
Do you work in shcedules like this?
Well dear,
Is depend on where you work and how dedicated you want to be… you want to be a physiotherapists who seat down most of the time and use her mouth to treat patients or physiotherapists who touch her/his patients. Currently, I’m in charge of medical ward, therefore, there is no such schedule for me… usually, I’ll treat my patient first and write after that… Plus, I’m in charge of 10 wards… therefore, there is no bullshit in my work…
Btw, i understand what you meant as i also see how some of my colleagues work… is kinda annoying seeing these people bring down my profession and give other people the wrong impression if you understand what i meant….