Kelantan Doctor Refuses To Admit Boy Injured In Accident Because He Was "Tired & Busy"
The mother said her 16-year-old was weak, vomiting, and had a face fracture, but only received a few stitches and was told to go home.
By Kay Ng — 19 Jan 2023, 01:22 PM
A mother recently took to Facebook to allege how a doctor at Pasir Mas Hospital, Kelantan, refused to ward her son who was severely injured in a motorcycle accident because he was too "tired and busy"
In a Facebook post, the mother, Azimah Abdullah Zawawi, recounted how she received a call on 14 January and was told that her 16-year-old son Adam Mikhail had been involved in a motorcycle accident. He was sent to the emergency unit at the Pasir Mas Hospital at 3.45pm.
Rushing to the hospital, Azimah said she found her son sitting in a terrible state and in a wheelchair instead of a hospital bed. She alleged that Adam was in a wheelchair throughout the duration of his six hour stay at the hospital.
"Upon my arrival, I found my son in a wheelchair and suffering from bleeding from his face, vomiting, and weak. He was also still in his bloodied clothes," she wrote.
The mother and her husband then immediately asked a hospital staff member for a pair of scissors to cut their son's clothes off and got him changed into hospital clothes.
Afterwards, she said her son was referred to the dental clinic, where he received treatment from 4.45pm to 9pm
Azimah said during that time, her son was left alone with his mouth hanging open and without supervision for 30 to 40 minutes.
After receiving stitches to his mouth, Adam was referred back to the emergency department, where a doctor informed Azimah that her son was fit for discharge."As a mother, I felt very uncertain about bringing my child home because he was still vomiting and very weak," Azimah said.
"I begged for my child to be admitted to the ward for hospital monitoring."
Azimah claims the doctor rejected her on the grounds that the hospital lacked beds.
Instead, he gave her a list of warning signs to look out for when caring for Adam at home.
Unconvinced, Azimah requested that her son be transferred to a ward at Raja Perempuan Zainab II Hospital, as he was scheduled for outpatient treatment with an oral surgeon there the next morning, but was given the same justification.
Seeing that their child was in no condition to be returned home, Azimah's husband tried to speak to the doctor again, but was rudely rebuffed.
"I'm tired. I have a lot of patients I have to care for and I have a lot of work," the doctor was alleged to have said.
The note the Pasir Mas Hospital doctor gave to Azimah describing the "red flags" in her son's condition to look out for.
Image via Azimah Abdullah Zawawi (Facebook)Crestfallen, the three left and went straight to Universiti Sains Malaysia Hospital (HUSM), where Adam was immediately put into the emergency department's yellow zone
It was revealed that Adam had been severely undertreated at Pasir Mas Hospital.
"Officers at HUSM asked for my permission to reopen the stitches in my son's mouth because the previous stitches were done too poorly," Azimah said.
"There were also wounds on his stomach that were ignored by the previous doctor and needed to be cleaned."
In addition, Adam had facial injuries and a chin fracture that required further treatment.
Speaking to SAYS, Adam's cousin Syafiq Unzir said the boy had his second surgery yesterday, 18 January, and is currently recovering.
The Ministry of Health (MOH) has since responded to Azimah's viral Facebook post in an official statement yesterday, 18 January
"Kelantan Health Department (JKN) found several aspects that require attention, such as communication problems that caused the complaint," Kelantan state health director Dr Zaini Hussin wrote.
"Therefore, Pasir Mas Hospital will conduct further investigations and consultations together with all the parties involved, including the patient and his family."
"The Kelantan JKN takes this incident seriously and will take comprehensive action to ensure the highest quality of health service delivery."
