KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 20 — The Congress of Unions of Employees in the Public and Civil Services (Cuepacs) has proposed that the Ministry of Health (MoH) immediately set up an independent monitoring team to evaluate and study problems in health facilities.

Its president Adnan Mat said among the issues needed attention concerns staff adequacy at all levels, workload in handling Covid-19 cases and also other medical cases, condition of the facilities and work shifts to ensure staff are not working continuously for a week.

He said the team must be allowed to conduct inspections and risk assessment on all health facilities and present their findings to the ministry’s top management and the prime minister for immediate mitigation measures to be taken.

“Health staff are not robots, they are humans who are also physically and emotionally affected. Other things that can be evaluated by this team cover equipment, including personal protective equipment and vehicles that must be sufficient and in good condition,” he said in a statement.

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In another matter, Cuepacs also conveyed its condolences to the family of MOH frontliner Dr Ali Noor Hassan, who died recently of an underlying illness, and expressed its appreciation for his dedication and the responsibility undertaken in battling the Covid-19 pandemic.

Health director-general Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah has since denied that Dr Ali Noor’s death was due to exhaustion or Covid-19. — Bernama