Agitated Patient At Overcrowded Selayang Hospital Stabs Another Patient

The psych patient was upset over being stranded in the emergency department while waiting for a ward bed and grabbed a knife from the hospital pantry.

For illustration purposes

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A middle-aged patient in Selayang Hospital, Selangor, was stabbed by an agitated psychiatry patient as they waited in the overcrowded hospital on Tuesday (14 February).

The Straits Times reported that the victim was a dengue patient who was unfortunately stabbed by the other patient who was upset over being stranded in the emergency department of the hospital while waiting for a ward bed.

The psychiatry patient allegedly acquired a knife from the nurse’s pantry and stabbed the victim once in the back and twice in the abdomen.

The victim had to undergo an operation since the knife was wedged into the victim’s abdomen.

While the stabbing incident shocked many, the mention of an overcrowded hospital paints a dire picture of the country’s overworked public healthcare system.

Health director-general Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah clarified that the psychiatric patient was brought into the hospital with police escorts.

It can happen anywhere. We need to safeguard our patients in emergency departments and our clinic.
Health director-general Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham on Twitter

He added that the ministry has to review its SOP for dealing with patients with psychiatric disorders.

Before we viral disinformation pl be informed that the stabbing was done by a psychiatric pt brought in by the police. It can happen anywhere. We need to safeguard our patients in emergency depts & our clinics. We have to review our SOP for patients with psychiatric disorders.
— Noor Hisham Abdullah (@DGHisham) February 14, 2023

Since the incident took place despite having a security escort for the psychiatric patient, netizens are questioning the security SOP to safeguard other patients in hospitals.

They also brought up the matter of overcrowding in hospitals and the long wait to receive treatments.

Despite the criticisms, a netizen pointed out that the Health DG has been trying to solve the matter of overcrowding in hospitals.

And personally sir, the fact that such incident happened under the escort of police shows how poor we are at safeguarding not just other patients, but our own! Yes it can happen anywhere, but this, happened under the escort of police??
— ❌️⭕️— mR :: BriGhtSiDe.exe —▶️ (@leokid5075) February 14, 2023

That means carelessness of police cost a patient's life. How poor is our SOP on this matter?
— MissyYuni (@AthinYuni253) February 15, 2023

This is bad. Not only hospitals are overcrowded and understaffed, now they are also unsafe. SOP? Procedures? Down the drain (like KKM) because there's no one to enforce it. https://t.co/7i4J2Lt3AO
— Chan Kalvin (@chankalvin2u) February 15, 2023

Well I happened to witness a case that was escorted by police officers in HSel ED once before. Ptn was cuffed, brought in due to injury to scalp. Still the policemen scold a staff to make the discharge fast before anything bad happens. This shows how slow the service was.
— Katak Pero (@KatakPero) February 14, 2023