KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 16 — An increase in the number of healthcare workers, in particular nurses, was among the recommendations listed in the Auditor-General’s Report for the Year 2021 Series 2 released today.

According to the report, the Health Ministry (MoH), with the cooperation of the Public Services Department (PSD), must consider reinforcements to overcome a shortage of healthcare staff in view of an increasing workload, especially in times of the Covid-19 pandemic.

The recommendations were following an audit carried out in four public hospitals, which found that the recruitment of nursing positions was not equivalent to requirements and had failed to comply with the recommended ‘level of care’ ratio, particularly when taking into account the scope of services provided in the Emergency and Trauma Department (ETD).

The audit was done at the Sungai Buloh Hospital, the Raja Perempuan Zainab II Hospital (Kota Bharu), the Tunku Jaafar Hospital (Seremban) and the Tampin Hospital.

The positions at the four hospitals were filled by between seven and 62 nurses and ETD nurse shortages ranged from 61.2 per cent to 35.3 per cent, according to the report.

It was also found that the number of nurses placed in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) during the pandemic period was insufficient that led to them having to work overtime.

"The lack of nurses caused the level of patient care to be changed to the norm of three quarters (3:4) and the shift schedule had to be changed from two shifts to three.

"On average, each nurse will work more than 12 hours per day and will work ‘double duty’ when there is a shortage of nurses due to quarantine leave,” the report stated. — Bernama