Hospital gave tender to company that failed to deliver cancer treatment machines on time, delaying patients' treatments by months

Malay Mail

6 days ago

KUALA LUMPUR, July 21 — A delay in the delivery of critical cancer treatment equipment by a firm has affected patient health care at the Hospital Canselor Tuanku Muhriz (HCTM), revealed the Auditor-General's Report.
In an audit report released today, the National Audit Department found that the firm, identified as 0074062-D, failed to provide a linear accelerator (Linac) radiotherapy system as well as a CT-Simulator and Contrast Injector to HCTM on time.
The Linac and other supporting equipment were initially scheduled for delivery on September 18, 2024.
However, by the time the audit report was concluded on January 17 this year, the Linac machine was yet to be delivered to the said hospital.
The report stated that the delay has jeopardised health treatment for at least 20 patients, which was reportedly postponed for up to eight weeks.
According to the audit report, the firm failed to supply the equipment on time because the new Linac unit did not meet the technical integration requirements with HCTM's existing system, known as ARIA.
'This technical incompatibility meant that no testing and commissioning work could proceed, further stalling installation and operation,' the report stated.
The company then in June last year, asked to postpone the completion of its tender to Feb 12, 2025 due the technical incompatibility, which was approved by HCTM.
However, the firm asked for another deferment in December to an unspecified date, which HCTM rejected.
Despite the issue, 0074062-D was awarded the contract by the hospital's tender procurement committee.
During the tender process, although company 0074062-D met the technical and financial evaluation thresholds, it was not recommended for appointment by the pre-tender committee, technical assessment committee and financial assessment committee.
The report stated that the technical assessment committee specifically highlighted that the equipment proposed by the company did not comply with integration requirements for the hospital's existing ARIA system.
Despite these concerns, the tender procurement committee proceeded to award the contract to company 0074062-D, overriding the collective recommendations of the evaluation committees.
HCTM stated that the tender procurement committee selected company 0074062-D because it fulfilled 90.36 per cent of the technical assessment criteria, submitted the second-lowest bid at RM22 million, and offered the lowest maintenance cost at RM960,000 per year.
This was compared to RM1.09 million per year quoted by the lowest bidder in the tender process.
However, the National Audit Department found that the explanation unsatisfactory as the report showed the cost saving decision was made despite one company - 0050470-K - submitting a bid for just RM370,000 more than the winning bid, but with the highest score in the technical assessment at 98.05 percent.
Apart from the cancer treatment equipment procurement, the Audit Department also raised concerns over two other tenders approved by HCTM — one for catering services and another for lift upgrades.
In the catering tender, a RM25.6 million contract was awarded to a company that lacked experience and failed to meet key technical requirements, including having halal certification.
Despite not being recommended by the financial assessment committee, the company was chosen due to having sufficient capital.
Notably, none of the bidders fully met both technical and financial criteria.
Meanwhile, a RM10.8 million contract for lift upgrades was given to company 0726241-U, which had a 'sick project' record — a clear breach of tendering guidelines for major works.
Although the hospital claimed that further reviews showed some of the firm's questionable projects were completed on time, the Audit Department maintained that the company should have been disqualified from the start.