Dr. Cheah’s Pages

Tower of Babel

Ward rounds can be challenging, not just on the diagnostic and treatment front but increasingly on the communication aspect as well. Increasing number of foreign individuals that originate from a different culture and language are appearing in our local hospitals. Sadly, even many Malaysians cannot hold a conversation in our national language. As the number of patients speaking a foreign language increases, how best can we tackle the ensuing gap in communication?

Poor understanding of what a patient is complaining about can lead to a wrong diagnosis. Furthermore, explaining to the patient about his/her disease can then be an arduous and sometimes impossible task. Translators in our local hospitals are lacking. Despite most doctors speaking more than one language, the heterogeneity of our patient population makes learning all languages impossible.

With an expanding foreign labour force in Malaysia, it may be apt for local hospital authorities to put in place a translator service with help from foreign embassies. This will ensure a good delivery of healthcare to our foreign-speaking patients.

A sordid experience

A decent into a calamitous ward, which was thought extinct after years of progress. Beds stacked beside each other like sardines in a can, where the stench of sweat from one patient could make the other puke. A place where nurses and medical officers scramble to ensure a decent level of service in a land that prides itself with its majestic twin towers. A hospital which is supposedly one that will treat its royals.

But surely the royals will never ever see the dehumanising condition that its subjects are dealing with. No, there is a plush haven for them, tucked into a quiet corner, where even the decor has been meticulously chosen. Its residents are always afforded personal attention by the higher echelon, ensuring a quick delivery of service.

Sadly, those not lucky enough to be born with a silver spoon, will have to make do with decrepit conditions prevailing in normal class wards. A daily statistic that clearly proves that they are functioning over its maximal capacity. Compounded by shrinking budgets, the direction of progress is sadly in the reverse. Administrators appear contented and solutions are extinct.

Alas, a new leader but an old face. A machinery that looks weary after decades of underperformance. An energetic display that is likely to fizzle out as we battle the economic storm.

The reality remains as I step into a ‘battlezone’ where lives are saved and lost, where the camaraderie of patients are respected, and young comrades are thrust into a surreal reality of our medical wards.

God help us all.