Saturday October 30, 2010
Many irregularities at dialysis centres
Ninety-four of the 109 dialysis centres, or 86.2%, are operating without a licence while five of them did not have approval to be set-up, said the Auditor-General’s 2009 Report. These centres receive a RM50 subsidy from the Government for each dialysis treatment for kidney patients.
The centres are liable to a fine of between RM300,000 and RM500,000 or six months’ jail for not complying with regulations. “Up till the date of the audit, the (Health) ministry has yet to take action against these dialysis centres,’’ it said. Feedback from the ministry stated that no action was taken due to the lack of such facilities in government hospitals.
Between 2007 and 2009, the ministry paid RM66.73mil to 109 dialysis centres. The A-G felt the ministry should tighten its enforcement to ensure all dialysis centres complied with existing regulations. The report disclosed a disparity in terms of fees charged for dialysis as well. While the Government set the maximum charge at RM110, dialysis centres run by Socso charged RM130 and Public Services Department RM200.
The report also highlighted cases of NGOs filing claims from the Government using names of patients who no longer sought treatment. KL Lions Foundation, Pusat Hemodialisis Yayasan Felda, KAS/Rotary Kuching-NKF Dialysis Centre, MAA-Medicare Charity Dialysis centre Kuching, Yayasan Emkay and Yayasan Sultanah Bahiyah were found to have submitted such claims.
The audit was of the view that the Health Ministry should impose a standard fee and monitor facilities in dialysis centres. The ministry also provided a capital grant of RM278,131 to Pusat Dialysis Fungates Superflow-NKF Kepong on June 19 last year. Audit checks showed that 12 dialysis machines in the centre were acquired free from other NGOs.
“Based on feedback received, the ministry had issued a letter requesting for a refund of the capital grant,’’ it said. Persatuan Hemodialisis Klang was also found to have submitted a similar claim twice. The centre had since returned RM45,000 in March, it said. The ministry had also requested for a refund of RM296,000 from a branch of Persatuan Hemodialisis Klang as it had yet to begin operations.
