By DayakDaily Team
KUCHING, Oct 29: The Sungai Asap Health Clinic in Sarawak is among four rural health facilities identified for upgrading under the Ministry of Health’s (MOH) proposed cottage hospital initiative to improve access to inpatient care for communities in remote areas.
Health Minister Datuk Seri Dr Dzulkefly Ahmad said the initiative would involve upgrading selected health clinics, including the provision of observation wards, particularly in areas where access to hospitals is limited.
Other facilities identified so far are the Tekek Health Clinic on Pulau Tioman, Pahang, and the Telupid and Nabawan health clinics in Sabah.
“The initiative aims to improve access to appropriate inpatient care, bring healthcare services closer to communities, particularly in rural and remote areas, and reduce the need for long-distance travel to hospitals, thereby helping to ease hospital congestion.
“This initiative reflects the MOH’s commitment to developing a more integrated, responsive and sustainable healthcare delivery system while ensuring equitable access to healthcare services regardless of geographical location,” he said during his winding up debate on the Supply Bill 2027 at the policy stage for his ministry in the Dewan Rakyat on Wednesday (Oct 28).
He said the cottage hospital concept had also been adopted in several countries, including the United Kingdom, where selected rural health clinics had been upgraded with facilities such as observation wards.
Apart from this initiative, he said the ministry was continuing efforts to restructure the roles and functions of primary healthcare facilities, including rural clinics, community clinics and clinics at Urban Transformation Centres (UTCs).
The ministry was also assessing the need to upgrade, consolidate or establish new facilities based on population density and local healthcare needs.
Meanwhile, Dr Dzulkefly said the ministry would expand the Hospital Services Outsourcing Programme (HSOP) from 14 to 16 service areas in 2027, with its allocation increasing from RM144 million this year to RM200 million next year.
The two additional services would be Mycobacterium tuberculosis culture testing and prenatal genetic testing.
He said the HSOP, which leverages private sector capacity, had helped reduce patient waiting times by an average of two to 10 weeks while easing congestion at government hospitals.
“For example, the waiting time for coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) surgery has been reduced by 18 weeks, from 50 to 32 weeks, while that for radiotherapy for prostate cancer has fallen from 21 to eight weeks.
“The waiting time for cardiac computed tomography (CT) scans has also been reduced from 24 to 13 weeks,” he said.
Dr Dzulkefly said the number of patients benefiting from the HSOP had increased by 22.2 per cent to 51,159 across 14 service areas, compared with 41,858 patients across 10 service areas previously.
In another development, he said the MOH was awaiting the full findings of the authorities’ investigation into the Flying Doctor Service (FDS) before bringing the matter to the Cabinet.
He said the ministry would provide further clarification on the matter in the Dewan Rakyat once the process was completed to ensure transparency. — Bernama
