Jakarta, IO – Healthcare is one of the most fundamental forms of public service. In emergency situations, the mandate of the state is measured not only by the availability of hospitals, healthcare workers and health insurance coverage, but also by the ability of the system to provide timely, transparent and humane care. Unfortunately, a recent incident that has drawn widespread attention after appearing on X suggests that this expectation is still far from being realized.
The case began when the family member of a patient claimed they had to wait up to eight hours in an emergency room before being assigned an inpatient room. Frustrated by the experience, the family shared their complaint on social media. Rather than receiving an explanation or empathy, however, the post wasmet with a wave of disparaging comments. Some users mocked the patient for being poor, wished a heart attack upon them or even suggested they head straight to the morgue. Ironically, some of these comments reportedly originated with healthcare workers.
Sometime later, the family announced that the patient in question had passed away. According to the family, there were concerns that delays in treatment may have contributed to deterioration of the patient’s condition. Of course, the exact cause of death and the question as to whether negligence had occurred must be established through an objective investigation. It would there fore be inappropriate for the public to immediately conclude that malpractice or procedural errors had been involved, before any official findings are released.
Regardless of the outcome of that investigation, however, there is a broader issue, one that cannot be ignored. The incident highlights that the challenges facing Indonesia’s healthcare system are not limited to hospital capacity. They also involve shortcomings in public service governance (or good governance) that have yet to be adequately addressed.
According to the Policy Framework on Sound Public Governance published by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) in 2020, good governance is built on such principles as accountability, responsiveness and respect for citizens’ rights and dignity. These principles should form the foundation of healthcare services, because hospitals, whether publicly-owned or private institutions partnered with BPJS Kesehatan, ultimately perform a public service function.
First, accountability requires the Government and healthcare facilities to explain the causes of long waiting times and delays in treatment. If a patient must wait for hours to obtain an inpatient room, the public has the right to know why. Is it due to a shortage of beds, a lack of healthcare workers, a surge in patient numbers or weaknesses in referral system coordination? Such transparency is important not to justify failures, but to provide a basis for evaluation – and thus prevent similar problems from recurring.
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Second, the principle of responsiveness requires public service providers to address complaints quickly, empathetically and with a focus on resolving problems. Public complaints should be viewed as feedback that can help improve service quality, not as threats to be met with ridicule. This is especially important when complaints come from families coping with stressful and emotionally difficult situations. In healthcare, empathetic communication is an integral part of service quality itself.
Third, healthcare services must uphold respect for human dignity. A person’s BPJS membership status, insurance type or economic circumstances should never determine how they are treated. Public services exist precisely to ensure that every citizen receives equal access to proper care, especially when they are at their most vulnerable. Therefore, comments that demean patients based on their economic status not only violate professional ethics but also undermine the principle of equality that forms the foundation of public service.
This case also serves as a reminder that improving healthcare quality requires more than building hospitals, adding medical equipment or expanding health insurance coverage. The Government must ensure a more effective referral system, an adequate distribution of healthcare workers, transparent complaint-handling mechanisms and a stronger patient-centered service culture. Evaluating emergency room capacity at hospitals with high patient volumes is also essential to prevent recurring overcapacity events – something that could potentially endanger patient safety.
In the end, the success of a healthcare system should not be measured solely by how modern its facilities are, but rather by its ability to ensure that every citizen is treated with dignity, when they are most in need of help. It is important to remember that the essence of good governance is not merely providing medical services, but ensuring that those services are delivered fairly, accountably, responsively and with respect for the dignity of every citizen.
