Editorial Summary

The Jakarta Globe, one of the daily newspapers in Indonesia, presented an interesting editorial which was published on Thursday 3^rd of March 2011 entitled “A Sickness in Our Hospital Services”. In this editorial, the Jakarta Globe states that malpractice cases are caused by a lack of professional standards and accountability among medical practitioners hospital. The background of the editorial comes from the bad incident which happened to Maureen in Awal Bros Hospital Tangerang. The parents of Maureen believe that the hospital has made a mistake when they tried to cure their young daughter and decide to take a legal suit against the hospital. The Ministry of Health takes into the account to solve the case and will investigate the hospital and the doctors. The action of government is really important to reduce the number of malpractice cases in Indonesia. In addition, it is also important to build the public trust toward the health-care industry because it is related to the human safety. Therefore, the standard of health-care industry must be enforced since there is no apology for malpractice.

The editorial was published by The Jakarta Globe “A Sickness in Our Hospital Services”

Little did Linda Kurniawati and Budy Katjana realize that when they admitted their eight-month-old daughter Maureen to the emergency ward of Awal Bros Hospital in Tangerang last November, the situation would end with the infant losing a finger.

Maureen was suffering from seizures and high fever when they brought her to the hospital. Doctors there inserted an IV drip into her right hand. After a while, Maureen’s finger turned blue, and eventually developed necrosis, which is when tissue dies due to inadequate blood flow. Doctors than decided to amputate.

Maureen’s parents have filed a legal suit against the hospital and are demanding Rp 3.5 billion ($399,000) in compensation. The Ministry of Health said on Thursday that it was going to send a team to the hospital to investigate the alleged malpractice case.

“We want the public to know that we are handling this matter very seriously,” said Chairul Rajab Nasution, director of health education at the ministry. “If the hospital is found to be guilty we will take firm action.”

But the doctors, too, must be held accountable for egregious malpractice. Doctors who are found to be grossly negligent or incompetent should be barred from practicing.

Sadly, such malpractice cases are becoming all too common. In the past 18 months, numerous allegations of malpractice have sprung up at hospitals across the country. These cases reflect poor professional standards at many hospitals and a lack of accountability among medical practitioners.

Public trust is critical for the sustainability of the health-care industry. Low standards in a few hospitals hurt the credibility of the entire industry. More importantly, as in the case of baby Maureen, poor health standards can have a devastating impact on the lives of patients.

It is thus urgent that the health industry establish and enforce a set of professional standards that government-run and private hospitals both adhere to.

By raising and maintaining high standards, the industry will attract better qualified and skilled doctors and health-care professionals. This will in turn further enhance standards and build public trust. The health-care industry is central to Indonesia’s drive toward modernity and as such it must improve. There can be no excuse or tolerance for malpractice.