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The Star

Malaysia’s health director general Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said the case of a woman who was refused entry to Kampar Hospital in the western Perak state for treatment due to her attire will be investigated.
In a tweet on Tuesday, Dr Noor Hisham said: “This shouldn’t happen in health facilities. We will investigate and if it is true, will take necessary action. Thank you for highlighting this issue.”
He was responding to Twitter user @devprasad888, who tagged Dr Noor Hisham about the incident which went viral on social media.
A woman in her early 20s was reportedly scolded by a medical worker for being “indecently dressed” while seeking treatment at the hospital in the 11pm incident on February 12.
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She arrived at the hospital’s emergency unit seeking treatment, and her vitals were checked by a medical officer and found stable.
“The officer was reported to have said that the woman was wearing short pants, prompting the officer to get her a hospital gown.
“Before the officer managed to give the patient the gown, she had left the triage counter and informed other staff that she would seek treatment at a private clinic,” Kampar Hospital’s director Dr Khairul Azha Azam said.
“At about 1am on February 13, she returned to the emergency unit accompanied by a friend. She then registered and sought treatment from a doctor and had been discharged,” Dr Khairul added.
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He also said Kampar Hospital has never given out orders or denied any patients from receiving treatment based on the way they dressed.
He said the hospital has reprimanded the officer involved in the kerfuffle over dress codes, and action has been taken to ensure that similar incidents do not recur.
Earlier, Perak health committee chairman A. Sivanesan said it is an unwritten understanding to dress appropriately when visiting governmental premises.
Sivanesan said while he was not saying anyone was at fault over the dress code kerfuffle at Kampar Hospital, people should dress appropriately when seeking treatment at government clinics or hospitals.
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“If you go to a government department, there should be decorum.
“Whether the hospital had [put up] a notice or not, as Malaysians, we must know what to wear,” he told a press conference after opening a free health screening programme in the state capital Ipoh on Tuesday.
“If you go to a temple, there’s also no signboard, but we know we cannot wear short skirts there. It’s an unwritten understanding.
“I am not saying what the hospital did is correct and I [still] need to investigate [the incident],” he said, adding that all hospitals, including private ones, have the discretion to set a dress code.
“If the hospital staff don’t have the power to ask the patient to go back and change, but did so, action can be taken against them,” he added.
Sivanesan said he also hoped the woman would come forward to tell her side of the story.
This article was first published on The Star


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The health director general said the incident at Perak’s Kampar Hospital, where a woman was reportedly scolded by a medical worker for being ‘indecently dressed’, will be probed
The hospital said it reprimanded the officer involved in the kerfuffle over dress codes


The health director general said the incident at Perak’s Kampar Hospital, where a woman was reportedly scolded by a medical worker for being ‘indecently dressed’, will be probed.
