Meanwhile, Dr Lily Ng had made clarification on the above article the day it was published.
With reference to NST article on 17th October, 2013,
“7 Anaesthetists 1 State” I wished to make some clarification.
There are 20 Anaesthesiologists in Sabah, including the 7 in the two Queen hospitals and six in Likas hospital. The others are stationed in Sandakan, Tawau, Lahad Datu and Keningau.Of those number, there are one cardiac anaesthesiologist and one Pain anaesthesiologist.
Anaesthesiologists were on stand by for Lahad Datu incursion and Kudat air crash and there was adequate manpower to handle the situations.
Specialists in this field are normally posted to Sabah for six to12 months before they return to Peninsular Malaysia to continue serving in government hospitals and not private sector. However, some of them did choose to continue to serve in Sabah for a very long time.
No doubt there is a shortage of anaesthesiologists all over the world, including Malaysia. Kementerian Kesihatan Malaysia and Head of Anaesthesiology Malaysia, Datin Dr Sivasakti, are doing their best to train as many specialists as possible, to cope with the increasing scope of anaesthetic work, both in West Malaysia and East Malaysia.
Anaesthetic services are required to facilitate surgery and subspecialised surgery which are expanding greatly. Both Kementerian Kesihatan Malaysia and Sabah State Health Department have been posting staff of all categories, for training in advance, to serve in the Twin Tower, Queen Elizabeth Hospital.
Yesterday World Anaesthesia Day and Golden Jubilee (50th) of Malaysian Society of Anaesthesiologists celebration was held at Queen Elizabeth 2 Hospital, with theme “Your Life…We Care” was extended to the Sabah public through a number of exhibits. It was visited by the Sabah Director of Health, Dr Christina Rundi accompanied by her Deputy and Hospital Director of Queen Elizabeth 2 Hospital, Dr. William Gotulis.
Highlights included a demonstration and hands on session of cardiopulmonary resuscitation. Members of the public tried performing chest compressions, timing to the beat of the famous Bee Gees song “Staying Alive” . Other activities included airway management where intubation or the insertion of a tube into the trachea for oxygenation of the lungs was demonstrated and a simulated operation under general anaesthesia.
Dr Lily Ng
Sabah Anaesthesiology and Intensive Care Services head.
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