MIRI, April 10: A female kidney dialysis patient from a rural area passed away recently as she was unable to leave her home to get hemodialysis treatment.
According to her husband, he was unable to take her to the Miri Red Crescent Dialysis Centre (MRCDC) due to MCO travel restrictions.
This was related by MRCDC in a press statement yesterday, which regrets that a precious life has been lost due to this unfortunate situation, and has made a police report on the unfortunate demise of the patient.
“We strongly urge all the families of patients, corporations and relevant parties to work together to facilitate and to ensure the dialysis patients continue coming to receive their haemodialysis treatment,” said MRCDC chairman Datuk Lee Kim Shin.
When the MCO was imposed in Miri recently, MRCDC issued letters of identification to all of its staff and patients to entitle them to pass through police roadblocks.
Under MCO a person who needs medical treatment must be allowed access to healthcare services.
Despite the difficulties during this pandemic period, MRCDC continues to support and care for all our patients to with the highest level of professionalism and care.
The recent Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) outbreak has triggered health alarm worldwide and patients on hemodialysis or peritoneal dialysis are in the COVID-19 classified as a high-risk category.
“Despite the threats of COVID-19, our centre remains open and our patients continue to undergo their treatment without any interruption in compliance with the directives of the government which classifies our MRCDC as providing an essential service,” Lee stated.
“As on April 10, our center has a total of 339 dialysis patients and all our patients have been consistently reminded to come every alternate day for treatment, as failure to do so could seriously jeopardise their health and even result in death,” he explained.
“In order to safeguard our staff and patients, we have at great additional expense implemented various infection control strategies to minimise the risk of disease transmission in our dialysis facilities,” Lee pointed out.
This includes screening, awareness education of our staff and patients.
“We rigorously follow the policies and procedures given by Cawangan Kawalan Amalan Perubatan Swasta, Bahagian Amalan Perubatan (CKAPS),” he said.
The Miri Red Crescent Dialysis Centre (MRCDC) under the Malaysian Red Crescent Miri District, has been providing dedicated and essential hemodialysis treatment for End-Stage Renal Failure (ESRF) patients for the past 24 years.
“It is our mission to provide high-quality dialysis treatment at an affordable rate for all,” said Lee.
“We would also like to advise all our patients to always strictly follow their treatment schedules and also the health guidelines issued by the ministry during this pandemic,” he concluded.
They can always contact MRCDC at 085-436862 to get assistance if they encounter any difficulties and issues. —DayakDaily
