PETALING JAYA: Health minister Dr. Zaliha Mustafa said the recent overcrowding at Hospital Kuala Lumpur resulting in over a hundred patients being “stranded” at the hospital’s accident and emergency department was because the incident  happened during a holiday when many people took leave and demand for hospital wards was high.

She told Sin Chew Daily that HKL director had briefed her about the incident, saying the issue was resolved the following day.

“Many people take leave during or near to a holiday, and this could cause the overcrowding problem at hospitals, which has been around for some time now.”

She said her ministry had been seriously looking into the issue of understaffing at HKL and other hospitals.

“We will recruit over 4,900 fixed positions, with more to come.”

Dr. Zaliha also said the health ministry was currently working with human resources and finance ministries as well as the public services department in order to hire more doctors, which she said was one of her key performance indicators (KPIs).