STAFF shortages remain the biggest obstacle to improving healthcare services in Sabah’s east coast, despite ongoing efforts to upgrade hospital facilities and procure modern medical equipment, the State Legislative Assembly was told on Tuesday.
Assistant Minister of Women, Health and People’s Wellbeing Datuk Rina Jainal said while the Government continued to enhance healthcare infrastructure, the shortage of medical personnel remained a critical issue.
“Our struggle is not only about medical assets. The bigger challenge is staffing and the shortage of healthcare workers.
“We are consistently improving healthcare facilities and infrastructure, but we remain very constrained in terms of increasing manpower,” she said when responding to a supplementary question from Silam Assemblyman Datuk Dr Mohammad Yusof Apdal.
Mohammad Yusof had asked about the disparity in the distribution of specialist doctors between Sabah’s west and east coasts, as well as whether limited access to advanced medical equipment such as CT scan and MRI machines in rural hospitals had contributed to more patient referrals to Kota Kinabalu.
Rina said the ministry had yet to compile detailed figures on the imbalance in specialist doctors between the two regions but acknowledged the need for additional medical assets.
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She said the Government was prioritising the provision of high-end medical equipment based on district needs, citing Hospital Tawau as one of the facilities receiving advanced equipment such as PET scan machines.
Earlier, replying to Mohammad Yusof’s original question, Rina said Hospital Lahad Datu, which is classified as a minor specialist hospital, was undergoing improvements through the Sabah Health Department (JKNS).
She said preliminary works to upgrade the hospital, including structural repairs, were currently underway.
“The replacement, addition and procurement of new medical assets are also being carried out in phases,” she said.
Rina said the ministry, through JKNS, remained committed to continuously upgrading healthcare facilities at Hospital Lahad Datu to meet the needs of its growing population.
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