Hospitals Urged to not Reject Emergency Patients

Jakarta - Health Minister Nafsiah Mboi has called on all hospitals in Indonesia to not turn away patients arriving in a critical condition. "Neither government hospitals nor private ones should ever try to reject any patient who has come in with an emergency condition, because it is important to ensure the patient's rights and safety," she said while addressing the 12th Congress of All Indonesian Hospitals Association (PERSI) here on Wednesday. ¿I receive two to three complaints through SMS every day, about financially incapable patients who have been turned away by certain hospitals,¿ Nafsiah stated. ¿All hospitals in the country should be committed to providing the best possible services to all patients regardless of their economic background,¿ she added. The health minister also urged the new management of the Indonesian Hospitals Association to optimise the use of information technology and offer improved health services. ¿For example, if some hospital has run out of a particular medicine, it should be able to communicate the matter with another hospital immediately. That way, patients who need the medicine the most may have it as soon as possible,¿ she explained. Nafsiah also called for increased cooperation among doctors in providing the patients with generic medicines ¿rather than prescribing patent or expensive ones¿. "However, doctors must prescribe approved medicines," she said. (*)