Rural areas need more anaesthesiologists
KUCHING: The Health Department needs more anaesthesiologists willing to be posted to rural places across Sarawak.
According to state Health Department director Dr Jamilah Hashim, rural hospitals such as Kapit Hospital are in need of these medical personnel to allow surgeries to be performed in these facilities.
“We are hoping that there are anaesthesiologists willing to be stationed at these (rural) areas such as Kapit, so we don’t have to bring in those from faraway stations as travelling is time-consuming,” she said at the launch of the state-level National Anaesthesia Day 2017 in Sarawak Islamic Complex at Jalan P Ramlee here yesterday.
Acknowledging the fact that not many anaesthesiologists want to be stationed in rural areas far from their hometowns, Dr Jamilah assured them that such arrangement would not be on a long-term basis.
On a related issue, she lamented that some anaesthesiologists were quick to return to Peninsular Malaysia after being stationed in Sarawak.
“There is a lack of trained personnel in the field of anaesthesiology in Malaysia at the moment,” she admitted, stressing that this issue needs urgent attention.
Nevertheless, she praised the present anaesthesiologists in Sarawak and those assisting them for always giving their best to the community.
“The anaesthesiology services in Sarawak have experienced lots of change and improvement. The equipment at the operation theatres and ICUs (intensive care units) in hospitals are new and well taken care of.”
National Anaesthesia Day 2017 was held ahead of World Anaesthesia Day, observed worldwide on Oct 16 annually. This year, the worldwide theme is ‘Count Me In’ – aimed at raising awareness of and support for this branch of the medical and healthcare profession in order to recruit or add more anaesthesiology personnel everywhere.
It is learnt that globally, there is a need for at least 136,000 medical personnel trained in anaesthesiology services.
In Sarawak, anaesthesiologists are stationed at Sarawak General Hospital, Sarawak Heart Centre, Sibu Hospital, Miri Hospital, Sarikei Hospital and Bintulu Hospital.
The event yesterday was also attended by state anaesthesiologist Dr Hasmizy Muhammad.