70% of patients at Penang Hospital emergency department are non-critical cases

More than 70% of patients seeking treatment at Penang Hospital’s emergency and trauma department are non-critical cases, contributing to congestion at the facility, the state assembly was told today.

State health committee chairman Daniel Gooi said the department handled an average of 300 cases each day.

Data from January to July this year showed that 32.99% of patients were non-emergency cases, while 40.6% were classified as Green Zone (minor) cases, bringing the total to 73.56%.

Only 7.14% of cases were classified as Red Zone (critical), or requiring immediate treatment, while 19.81% were Yellow Zone (semi-critical) cases, he said.

“In other words, more than half of the cases are not critical and do not require immediate treatment,” he said during a question-and-answer session at the state assembly.

“However, we still attend to them because we do not have a ‘wrong-door’ policy. The emergency and trauma department cannot turn patients away.”

Daniel was responding to Gooi Hsiao Leung (PH-Bukit Tengah) about the factors contributing to congestion and long waiting times at the hospital’s emergency department, following the circulation of videos showing daily crowds at the facility.

Daniel said Penang Hospital also played an important role as a specialist referral centre for the northern region, serving not only Penang residents but also patients from other northern states.

Referring patients to clinics

Daniel said several measures were introduced to ease congestion, including extending the operating hours of high-capacity health clinics and improving referral procedures to allow the direct admission of high-risk patients to hospital wards.

The state is also working with nearby private clinics under the Madani Medical Scheme and PeKa B40 programme to treat low-risk patients.

Longer term measures include the construction of two new hospital blocks. The women and children’s block is expected to be completed next year, while the specialist clinic and ward block is scheduled for completion in 2029.

“The new facilities will also add more beds and help ease overcrowding at the emergency department,” Daniel said.

On Aug 21, Penang Hospital apologised for the long waiting times at its emergency and trauma department following a video of the congestion which went viral on social media the previous day.

Following the apology, the Penang health department said it had introduced several measures to address the congestion, including a triage system that prioritises patients according to the severity of their conditions rather than their arrival time.

Under the system, Red Zone patients requiring critical care are treated immediately, followed by Yellow Zone patients and those in the Green Zone.

Green Zone patients may face longer waits during peak periods, particularly when there is a surge in critical cases. Waiting times also depend on blood test results and further examinations by specialists, Bernama reported.

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