KUCHING: The Sarawak State Health Department (JKNS) is aware of and takes seriously the concerns circulating on social media regarding the services provided at the Sarawak Heart Centre.
Its director Dr Veronica Lugah said the department assures that further investigations will be conducted to identify if there is indeed any misconduct by the staff.
“JKNS will take note of the necessary actions for improving the quality of services at the hospital.
“The Sarawak Heart Centre does not appoint or recognise any party acting as a runner to obtain the services provided.
“On this occasion, the Sarawak State Health Department would like to remind the public to obtain hospital information and services through the proper channels,” she said in a statement posted at the department official Facebook page today (Aug 15).
She said JKNS would like to inform that the Sarawak Heart Centre is a government hospital that operates a Full Paying Patient (FPP) Service.
“The implementation of FPP is subject to the Medical (Full Paying Patient) Fees Order. Through FPP, patients are charged the full amount without government subsidies to receive medical treatment services from specialist medical officers at government hospitals.
“FPP is a medical treatment provided by medical institutions to patients where the patient can choose the Specialist Medical Officer to treat them, with the convenience of priority in receiving treatment.
“Fees are charged for each service, including registration fees, consultation fees, investigation fees, consumable and disposable item fees, and so on. FPP services can be obtained through referrals from registered medical practitioners (government or private); or patients may come without referrals (self-referral),” she said.
She added that patients can obtain appointment dates from the relevant clinic either by phone or by visiting the clinic themselves.
“Appointments can be given on the same day if there are available slots. However, this service does not affect the queue of other public patients as FPP cases will only meet the Specialist after the consultations with public patients who have appointments for that day are completed.
“Procedures involving FPP cases are mostly conducted outside office hours or during weekends.
“Payment for FPP services must be made at any payment counter as determined by the hospital. An official receipt will be issued once all payments have been made by the hospital,” she explained.
She was responding to an issue went viral recently regarding the misconduct of medical officers, nurses, and “runners” who profited from patients through an organised syndicate.
