SGH Heart Centre needs more specialists, surgeons
KOTA SAMARAHAN: The Sarawak General Hospital (SGH) Heart Centre needs more specialists and surgeons to match the growing number of patients suffering from cardiovascular diseases in the state.
SGH Clinical Research Centre head Dr Alan Fong Yean Yip revealed that the centre only had three surgeons and eight cardiologists, which justified his worries that they would not be able to cope with the growing number of patients in the near future.
Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of a visit by Sarawak Heart Foundation to the centre yesterday, Fong said on average, the centre recorded at least 15 new admissions and the surgeons had to perform surgeries on two to three patients a day.
“The Department of Cardiology here would see at least 10 to 15 cases a day, excluding paediatric cases,” said Dr Fong, who is also the department’s consultant cardiologist.
The yearly occupancy rate at the centre, he continued, was normally high at 85 per cent while the centre recorded about 4,000 admissions last year due to patients referred to the centre from district hospitals.
The centre, he added, performed around 2,000 diagnostic tests for artery blockages a year, from which the number of patients at the centre could be roughly gauged.
“We clearly need more personnel and people in this field as well as the support of the state government to invest in healthcare services,” he added.
On another note, he said SGH Heart Centre provided training and research besides services to treat cardiovascular
diseases; those that affect the cardiovascular system, principally cardiac disease, vascular diseases of the brain and kidney and peripheral arterial disease.
The centre’s specialists, doctors, nurses and paramedics were also holistically trained in their fields due to the varying ages of their patients ranging from the old to infants, he pointed out.
He also said the centre was capable of treating most cases, unless they involved complex procedures whereby by the patient would be transferred to hospitals in other states or overseas.
“With the improvements of facilities and the manpower here, we hope that all the major treatments could be done here,” he added.
He believed that the increasing number of heart patients since 2001 and decreasing age of patients in the state could be due to lifestyle factors such as smoking or diabetes.
“It is vital to treat cardiovascular diseases at an early stage to increase a patient’s chances of recovery,” he added.