A Malaysian doctor recently revealed a disturbing trend: some families are leaving their elderly at hospitals just so they can go out freely.
In a post on Threads, the doctor expressed frustration, saying hospitals should not be treated like hotels where people can check in and out at will.
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“Hospitals are not a place where you can send your elderly parents because you want to go out! Hospitals are not hotels!”
In a follow-up post, the doctor shared that when confronted, some children even joked about the situation, brushing it off as if nothing was wrong.
He shared, “The reason behind my previous post isn’t that I don’t want to help, it’s the words of patients’ kids saying, ‘Oh, this isn’t a hotel where I can check in, is it? Hahaha, just kidding.’ I’m sorry, but we have the right to speak up too.”
Shockingly, this practice appears to be more common than expected.
In the comments section, other healthcare workers shared similar experiences:
“I’ve encountered so many of these cases. An elderly uncle who couldn’t walk properly came to the hospital. I thought he was alone, so I helped him to his car. Turns out, his son was inside the car and let his own father walk by himself. He even got angry because he had to take emergency leave. The son said, ‘If you’re not well, why are you discharged? When you get home, you’ll disturb everyone!’ I was deeply hurt. That’s why I started a service to accompany the elderly.”
Image Credit: Threads
Another shared, “I asked the patient’s children about his condition. They said he hadn’t eaten for a week and was hysterical. But once admitted, he ate everything. None of his kids visited during the stay. When the doctor called to discharge him, they asked for a discount so he could stay another 5–10 days. Their reason? They weren’t ready to take him home and had no one to care for him.”
Image Credit: Threads
“Some families send their bedbound elderly to the hospital just before Raya so they can travel during the festive season. This is based on my own experience.”
“They’ll send the elderly when the condition is bad, but when it’s time for discharge, no one comes to pick them up. Calls go unanswered. We can’t refer the case to JKM because the patient still has children and siblings. In the end, we had to lodge a police report as another patient was waiting for the bed. Only then did the family show up, and they were angry that we filed a report,” commented a user.
Image Credit: Threads
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