KUALA LUMPUR: While the war against the pandemic continues, Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin assured Malaysians that non-Covid-19 patients will not be left out of the public healthcare system.

       Khairy said the Health Ministry had never stopped or decreased services to non Covid-19 patients especially for emergency and partial emergency cases.

       Khairy also explained that specialist clinics and surgeons are presently operating on extended operating hours to accommodate non-Covid-19 patients.

       "The operating hours of specialist clinics and surgery theatres were extended till after work hours, including on Saturdays," he said during Minister's Question Time in Parliament on Tuesday (Sept 14).

       S. Kesavan (PH-Sungai Siput) had asked the health minister to state the government's plan in increasing bed occupancy rates and how it would achieve its goals under the first 100 days of administration.

       Khairy said non-specialist hospitals and the armed forces hospital will be optimised under the "cluster hospital" concept, where certain hospitals will be used for certain procedures and surgeries.

       "The Tuanku Mizan Hospital was used for emergency surgery. (Corneal Peadiatric ophthalmology)," he added.

       The Rembau MP also said specialists from KKM and private healthcare providers would be mobilised to hospitals that do not have specific procedures, such as the Vitreoretina emergency service at the southern zone.

       "The private vascular surgeon in Johor conducted a vascular surgery, specifically called ruptured aortic aneurysm," he added

       Khairy also said they had been outsourcing certain medical treatments to private hospitals in order to reduce waiting time among patients.

       "Outsourcing is done in phases according to the needs and present abilities of the ministry based on the criteria of cases," he said.

       "Up till July 31, the Health Ministry has cooperated with 76 private hospitals and it involves 3,947 procedures," he added.

       Earlier, Khairy said the health ministry was targeting to increase bed occupancy rate to 2.08 per 1,000 residents by the end of the 12th Malaysian plan (RMK12).

       He said by the end of 2020, which was also the end of RMK11, bed occupancy rate stood at 2.01 per 1,000 residents, which was an increase to 65,508 beds in 2020 from 55,952 in 2016.

       RMK12 was set to be unveiled by newly-minted Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob on Sept 27.

       The present Parliament meeting will run for 17 days from Sept 13 till Oct 12.