KUCHING: A family member of a breast cancer patient seeking treatment at Sarawak General Hospital (SGH) has rebutted a statement by hospital director Dr Abdul Rahim Abdullah that there is no pronounced delay in the treatment of patients as a result of the breakdown of one of the hospital’s conventional planning simulators.
Surnamed Chang, he claimed that his sister-in-law Ling from Bintulu had been waiting for almost two months since April 23 to fix an appointment to undergo the conventional planning simulator treatment.
“Since the SGH director Dr Abdul Rahim Abdullah said arrangements were also made for patients to be treated at SGH Heart Centre in Kota Samarahan, why is there no arrangement made for my sister-in-law and other affected patients to undergo treatment there?” he questioned when interviewed by The Borneo Post yesterday.
Chang believed that his sister-in-law was not the only patient affected by the breakdown of the simulator and the failure of the hospital to arrange for patients to undergo treatment at the heart centre.
“Besides that, since there is Computed Tomography (CT) Simulator in SGH, why didn’t the hospital conduct treatment using the CT Simulator for her and other patients while waiting for the replacement of the damaged X-ray tube of conventional planning?”
He said the failure of SGH to act fast in offering CT Simulator as an alternative to the conventional planning simulator had caused a lot of unnecessary worries and anxieties to the family.
Chang further said his family was frustrated because they were deeply worried that the cancer cells in Ling’s body would spread in the event that the one-course chemotherapy treatment that his sister-in-law underwent was not successful in preventing the cancer cells from spreading.
Meanwhile, Batu Lintang assemblyman See Chee How in responding to Dr Abdul Rahim’s statement complimented the hospital director for having the courage to find out what had happened and to clarify that the conventional planning simulator was indeed inoperative.
However, See, who is state PKR vice chairman, was doubtful about Dr Abdul Rahim’s statement that the bio-medical services support company even footed the cost of RM50,000 to replace the damaged part.
“If there is no negligence on the hospital’s bio-medical services support company, why should the company pay the RM50,000? It just doesn’t make sense.”